tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/commonwealth-games-2014-9982/articlesCommonwealth Games 2014 – The Conversation2014-08-05T09:26:07Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/301292014-08-05T09:26:07Z2014-08-05T09:26:07ZGlasgow 2014 could provide a springboard for Scotland to host Euro 2024 football tournament<p>Guaranteeing an honest, competent and financially stable Commonwealth Games host after the calamities of Delhi 2010 may not have been an altogether easy task for the games organising committee.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2010/sep/21/commonwealth-games-unfit-human-habitation">Athletes complained in 2010</a> about unfinished and dirty facilities and insect infestations in Delhi, and rather than announcing the country’s arrival as a major sporting and economic power on the global stage, Indian <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-25/indian-investigators-charge-two-lawmakers-in-corruption-strike.html">politicians and officials instead ended up in jail</a> on corruption charges. </p>
<p>A government report on the event’s finances later estimated its real, final cost at an extraordinary US$6 billion, many times over budget. Perhaps worst of all, many of the stadiums constructed in Delhi for the Games have remained gathering weeds and unused by the public ever since. Legacy, what legacy?</p>
<p>The Glasgow games largely used existing facilities, updated for the event, even if this meant farming out the prestigious diving events to Edinburgh. The games village, built on derelict land, will be used for “affordable” residents’ housing, and total costs have been reined in to around an impressive £0.5 billion. </p>
<p>By modern standards, this was a major sporting event refreshingly hosted on the cheap and with some clear and sustainable outcomes. How it will impact in terms of health and sports participation on <a href="https://theconversation.com/behind-the-fence-the-side-of-glasgow-games-youre-not-meant-to-see-29927">Glasgow’s swathe of poorer communities</a> who have largely been absent from the local games’ picture is, of course, quite another matter. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2010/may/25/commonwealth-games-delhi">Delhi’s poor saw almost nothing</a> out of the events of 2010.</p>
<p>Now, on the back of Commonwealth Games success, loose talk has already begun to stray to a possible Scottish <a href="http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/glasgow-2014-could-be-catalyst-for-euro-2024-bid-1-3496315">bid to host the 2024 European Football Championships</a>, perhaps with Ireland as co-hosts (the two countries submitted a joint bid for Euro 2008). The case is obvious: the Scots have been keen and very competent 2014 hosts and, with the Irish, could probably muster up the stadiums needed without a major spend. Despite problems with its domestic leagues, Scotland is a “proper” football country and its people would certainly support a major international football event – though it may throw the existing problems of the Scottish domestic game into even sharper relief.</p>
<h2>Switching to football</h2>
<p>Some of the transport and security problems of hosting a Commonwealth Games and a large football tournament remain broadly similar, at least in terms of numbers and logistics. And they have not always worked that smoothly for the Glasgow Games. </p>
<p>Indeed, some of us have begun to wonder quite how domestic and international sporting crowds in England and Scotland manage routinely to get to and from stadiums hosting 60,000-plus spectators, while events like this one seem to demand military style security operations, hours of queueing and airport-style searches. Old Trafford, with 75,000 routinely packed in for home and European football seems to me as much of a security risk as Hampden Park with 40,000 well-scrubbed, largely middle-class domestic athletics fans. But approaches to management and security are completely at odds. Are we missing something here? </p>
<p>Finally, the makeup of Commonwealth Games supporters are very different to your average football fan. They have mainly been watched by “nice”, largely uncommitted, friendly, older and overwhelmingly sober crowds, liberally laced with women and young children. They don’t really care who wins. In contrast, football crowds are typically much more partisan, younger, more oppositional, more masculine and certainly more boozed up. They may not always come from the fancy classes and they often care far too much about who wins. </p>
<p>The Glasgow police would have much more on their plate in 2024 than they have had in 2014. For the games they have been happily twiddling their thumbs, singing along with spectators, and wallowing in the general bonhomie. Want to improve your local police force’s image? Get a major games. But perhaps be rather more wary of international football: its fans may not stand quite so inertly at Mount Florida station near Hampden Park as athletics crowds have throughout this week.</p>
<p>But hey, it’s football, so bring it on.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30129/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Williams does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Guaranteeing an honest, competent and financially stable Commonwealth Games host after the calamities of Delhi 2010 may not have been an altogether easy task for the games organising committee. Athletes…John Williams, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of LeicesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/298612014-08-05T05:06:19Z2014-08-05T05:06:19ZGlasgow’s para-sport legacy must change behaviour as well as attitudes<p>The 2014 Commonwealth Games have been praised for integrating the para-sports programme into the main schedule and including the medals in the tally of each nation. The London Olympics in 2012 told a similar story of success, with the president of the International Paralympic Committee, Sir Philip Craven describing it as “<a href="http://www.paralympic.org/london-2012-overview">the greatest Paralympic Games ever</a>”.</p>
<p>But, the impact of the Olympics for promoting para-sport participation has since been questioned, which is concerning for the health of people with disabilities. It is important that more is done to encourage the broader uptake of sport and promotion of physical activity for people with disabilities. </p>
<h2>The 2012 Paralympic legacy</h2>
<p>The record crowds and unprecedented media coverage of the 2012 Paralympic Games positively transformed the way people with impairments were viewed by the public. As a result, UK Sport <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/creating-a-lasting-legacy-from-the-2012-olympic-and-paralympic-games/supporting-pages/paralympic-legacy">increased funding for Paralympics GB through to Rio 2016 and transport operators have worked to improve accessibility in the transport system.</a> </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.efds.co.uk/news/1208_efds_legacy_survey_reveals_disabled_people_want_to_watch_and_try_more_inclusive_sport">English Federation of Disability Sport</a>, thanks to a £2m investment from Sport England, has also been working tirelessly to increase the number of disabled people participating in sport. They found eight out of ten disabled people considered taking part in more sport or exercise following London 2012. </p>
<p>While these early signs were encouraging, a Sport and Recreation Alliance Survey <a href="http://www.sportandrecreation.org.uk/sites/sportandrecreation.org.uk/files/web/images/Olympic%20and%20Paralympic%20legacy%20survey_1.pdf">raised questions over the impact of the Paralympic legacy</a>. This was particularly regarding its effectiveness at translating Paralympic success into sport participation at a grassroots level. Nine out of ten clubs reported no change in the number of disabled people joining their club. Almost the same number (86%) noticed no change in the number of enquiries they received from disabled people wanting to take part.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28397795">recent survey</a> has also questioned the physical education provision for children with disabilities in mainstream schools. This not only limits the potential to develop future Paralympian prospects but more importantly future active generations.</p>
<h2>What the guidelines say</h2>
<p>For the past ten years at least, the UK <a href="http://www.rcpch.ac.uk/news/chief-medical-officers-annual-report-state-public-health-15-march-2010">Chief Medical Officer’s Report</a> has made the same statement regarding the lack of evidence to inform policy on the recommended levels of physical activity for disabled people:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A good understanding of the health and functional benefits derived from physical activity by persons with disabilities is still limited due to a lack of research.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It has been suggested that individuals with disabilities should strive to meet the American College of Sports Medicine physical activity guidelines of <a href="http://acsm.org/about-acsm/media-room/news-releases/2011/08/01/acsm-issues-new-recommendations-on-quantity-and-quality-of-exercise">150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week</a>. There is a degree of uncertainty as to whether these able-bodied guidelines are realistically achievable. </p>
<p>This is mainly due to altered physical function in individuals with a disability and the numerous challenges that they face when trying to be more physically active. There is also a distinct lack of evidence as to whether individuals with a disability even accrue the same health benefits from meeting these guidelines.</p>
<h2>Physical inactivity</h2>
<p>The World Health Organisation has addressed physical inactivity as a global public health concern. Figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US suggest that adults with a disability who do not perform any physical activity are 50% more likely than their active peers to <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/p0506-disability-activity.html">report at least one chronic disease</a> (cancer, diabetes, stroke or heart disease). </p>
<p>Worryingly the same report states that one in two disabled adults gets no aerobic physical activity. By getting volunteers to transition from high to low levels of physical activity over a 14 day period, researchers have associated reduced physical activity with <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21636564">impaired metabolic function</a>. Even as little as <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21716152">three days</a> of reduced physical activity can negatively affect the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar levels.</p>
<p>The reduced level of physical activity in people with disabilities is a result of <a href="http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/9/168">numerous psychosocial and environmental barriers to exercise</a>. These include reduced self-esteem, a lack of accessible facilities, unaffordable equipment, fear of injury and parental or medical over protection. </p>
<p>Secondary complications such as pressure sores, common in individuals who are wheelchair dependent, require bed rest and further compound the issue of physical inactivity.</p>
<h2>Moving forward</h2>
<p>People with disabilities should be a high priority for research support. There are now over 11m people living in the UK (750m worldwide) with long-term illness or disability. Within the <a href="http://www.bath.ac.uk/health/research/sport-health-exercise-science/disability-sport-health/">Centre for DisAbility Sport and Health</a> at the University of Bath we are interested in the benefit of physical activity on the health of individuals across a range of disabling conditions that lead to mobility impairments. </p>
<p>Tanni Grey-Thompson, one of the UK’s most successful Paralymic athletes, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/commonwealth-games/28317057">said</a>, “The Commonwealth Games is the one event that does integration properly.” So it is important that we capitalise on this legacy. In light of the negative consequences that being sedentary can have on health and well-being, it is crucial that efforts are made to help people with a disability overcome the barriers to engage in physical activity. Developing achievable physical activity guidelines that can enhance people’s lives is one place to start.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29861/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom E Nightingale does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The 2014 Commonwealth Games have been praised for integrating the para-sports programme into the main schedule and including the medals in the tally of each nation. The London Olympics in 2012 told a similar…Tom E Nightingale, PhD Candidate in Health and Exercise Science, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/301262014-08-04T15:59:35Z2014-08-04T15:59:35ZThe Glasgow games are over but the legacy debate continues<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55706/original/jh3cxrdz-1407163501.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The legacy of the 2014 Commonwealth Games will be a grey area for years to come. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/ocLWWx">Daniel0685/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The 20th Commonwealth Games have come and gone. Glasgow has demonstrated that it can successfully deliver a large-scale, global, multi-sport and cultural event. It can fill the stadia, shuttle people around the city relatively efficiently, and generally provide a positive and memorable experience for visitors and residents alike. </p>
<p>I suspect this performance exceeded many people’s expectations. Apart from the inconveniences associated with security, road closures, and the pressures on the transport system, it seems that almost all of those who engaged with the games had a genuinely good time. Epithets such as “raising the bar” and the “<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-28631944">best games ever</a>” are, in many respects, a remarkable achievement. </p>
<h2>Legacy in the long term</h2>
<p>The potential legacy of large-scale sporting events are difficult to measure, and need to be assessed over time - all of which makes the results much less transparent. Research evidence is generally pretty sceptical about sustained benefits associated with increased physical activity, inclusion, and the economy. Glasgow is also pursuing a series of connected regeneration programmes, and this year’s Commonwealth Games were only one, comparatively limited part of the long term strategy. </p>
<p>The sceptics point to the direct costs, the lack of benefit to local people, and the high <a href="http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/OpportunityCost.html">opportunity cost</a> of the games, which amounted to more than £560 million. What else could have been done with those resources to address Glasgow’s chronic socio-economic problems? The imperative to test legacy claims is equally strong for both the event’s critics and its proponents. Yet it may take five, or even ten years of research and evaluation to answer key questions about the legacy of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. </p>
<p>Back in 2007, the Glasgow bid had to respond creatively to meet the growing expectations about the legacy. Two detailed frameworks for delivering legacy benefits were set up by the <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0040/00408160.pdf">Scottish government</a>, and by <a href="http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=7770">Glasgow City Council</a>. If the legacy benefits are not achieved there will be clear evidence of this; questions will be asked, and hopefully lessons learned.</p>
<h2>Keeping white elephants at bay</h2>
<p>One direct effect of the games is that Glasgow’s journey to reinvent and regenerate itself has taken a significant change of gear. Glasgow has moved into the big leagues of cities around the world that are willing and able to play host. Glasgow will undoubtedly use its experience, as well as its visitor and facility infrastructure, to bid for and put on future sporting and cultural events. </p>
<p>Much of this infrastructure was refurbished, and the project derived a lot from complementary regeneration activities. Examples include the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-13931242">M74 extension</a>, and the <a href="http://www.clydegateway.com/pages/about_clyde_gateway.php">Clyde Gateway</a>, as well as recent investments on either side of the river, to the west of the city centre. Additionally, many of these venues reflected an acceleration of existing plans, rather than a new investment. This should lessen the dangers of post-games white elephants. All of the sport facilities were open to, and well-used by, local people before the games.</p>
<p>The focus area for new investment was, of course, Dalmarnock. Apart from the velodrome, the indoor arena, and the new link road, the main feature is the Athletes’ Village. The present phase is an award-winning development of private and social housing, with a further 700 private homes planned in the following phase. This will generate a revolutionary, new, mixed community in an area of hitherto low demand. </p>
<p>A key question for legacy assessors is how well integrated and sustainable this new community turns out to be. While <a href="https://theconversation.com/behind-the-fence-the-side-of-glasgow-games-youre-not-meant-to-see-29927">concerns have been raised</a> about the negative effects of these projects on the local community, it will be a decade before such questions can be convincingly answered. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55699/original/ww48v8bk-1407162001.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55699/original/ww48v8bk-1407162001.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55699/original/ww48v8bk-1407162001.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55699/original/ww48v8bk-1407162001.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55699/original/ww48v8bk-1407162001.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55699/original/ww48v8bk-1407162001.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55699/original/ww48v8bk-1407162001.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Athletes’ Village will become home to a diverse new community.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Glasgow_2014_Athletes_Village_from_outside_Emirates_Arena.JPG#mediaviewer/File:Glasgow_2014_Athletes_Village_from_outside_Emirates_Arena.JPG">AlasdairW/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The 2014 Commonwealth Games were a step on an unfinished journey that goes back to earlier, less successful regeneration efforts like the Glasgow Eastern Area Renewal (GEAR) project, as well as the decisions to take on events such as the <a href="http://www.rsgs.org/cgi-bin/ifa_series1.pl?series=2821">Garden Festival</a> and the <a href="http://ecoc-doc-athens.eu/attachments/472_Glasgow%201990%20European%20City%20of%20Culture.pdf">City of Culture</a>. Future steps will include initiatives like the <a href="https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=12201">Glasgow City Deal</a>. </p>
<p>In an effort to assess the legacies of large-scale sporting events like the Commonwealth Games, Policy Scotland are setting up an <a href="http://policyscotland.gla.ac.uk/legacy-research-network/">international legacy network</a>. Our aim is to bring cities and academics together to learn transferable lessons about capturing long term benefits from events like Glasgow 2014. We’re aiming to pinpoint what works and what doesn’t, and to discuss the costs of these events in terms of city regeneration. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30126/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kenneth Gibb has recivied internal University of Glasgow knowledge exchange funds to help support the development of an International Legacy Network that he convenes.</span></em></p>The 20th Commonwealth Games have come and gone. Glasgow has demonstrated that it can successfully deliver a large-scale, global, multi-sport and cultural event. It can fill the stadia, shuttle people around…Kenneth Gibb, Professor of Housing Economics, University of GlasgowLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/300422014-08-04T13:27:13Z2014-08-04T13:27:13ZGoing for gold: Australian success stories at the Glasgow Games<p>After 11 days of competition, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/glasgow-2014">2014 Commonwealth Games</a> have wound up, with 35 countries sharing 1,385 medals in 261 medal events. </p>
<p>It was also the first time since 1986 Australia didn’t finish top of the medal table – the Australian team won 137 medals (49 gold) in Glasgow compared to England’s 174 (58 gold) – so you may have seen reports that the Australian medal tally will result in an <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/commonwealth-games-glasgow-2014/commonwealth-games-news/australias-commonwealth-games-medal-tally-to-draw-internal-review-20140803-zzxkd.html">internal review</a>.</p>
<p>There have been plenty of highlights, though. Australia started and ended the Games with gold medals:</p>
<ul>
<li>Australian team flag bearer <a href="http://www.annameares.com.au/">Anna Meares</a> won the women’s <a href="http://results.glasgow2014.com/event/cycling_track/ctw003100/womens_500m_time_trial.html">500m time trial</a> in the first medal event in track cycling</li>
<li><a href="http://www.squashinfo.com/players/4-david-palmer">David Palmer</a> and <a href="http://cameronpilley.com/">Cameron Pilley</a> won one of the final gold medal events in the <a href="http://results.glasgow2014.com/event/squash/sqm002101/mens_doubles_gold_medal_match.html">men’s double squash final</a>. </li>
</ul>
<p>So let’s have a look back at some of the Australian achievements between these performances.</p>
<h2>Week one: cycling and swimming</h2>
<p>Australia dominated in week one of the Games with outstanding performances in cycling and swimming. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.swimming.org.au/article.php?group_id=7897">Emma McKeon</a> won six medals in swimming (four gold and two bronze) and was a member of the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team that <a href="http://results.glasgow2014.com/event/swimming/sww411101/womens_4_x_100m_freestyle_relay_final.html">broke the world record</a> on the first night of competition in the pool. (This world record swim broke a 2009 record set by swimmers wearing <a href="http://sportsscientists.com/2009/07/swimming-world-records-fall-like-meaningless-tenpins/">polyurethane suits</a>.)</p>
<p>Australia’s success in cycling and swimming extended to the para-sport events. Two of the para-swimmers, <a href="http://www.swimming.org.au/article.php?group_id=34862">Rowan Crothers</a> and <a href="https://www.cerebralpalsy.org.au/timeposts/maddi-elliott/">Maddi Elliott</a>, set world records in winning their events. Maddi was also Australia’s youngest swimmer at the London Paralympics in 2012.</p>
<h2>Week two: athletics</h2>
<p>Australia’s athletics program at the Games started with a remarkable win for <a href="http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/australia/michael-shelley-190005">Mike Shelley</a> in the men’s marathon and a very strong third place finish by <a href="http://www.all-athletics.com/node/317316">Jess Trengrove</a> in the women’s marathon. </p>
<p>Thereafter, seven female athletes won gold medals in track and field. In addition to the very public success of <a href="http://www.sallypearson.com.au/">Sally Pearson</a> and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/trust-is-a-must-for-coaches-and-athletes-just-ask-sally-pearson-29951">drama</a> surrounding her victory, <a href="http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/australia/alana-boyd-194576">Alana Boyd</a>, <a href="http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/australia/dani-samuels-196346">Dani Samuels</a>, <a href="http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/australia/kimberley-mickle-183794">Kim Mickle</a>, <a href="http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/australia/eleanor-patterson-261971">Eleanor Patterson</a>, <a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/angie-ballard">Angie Ballard</a> and <a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/jodi-elkington">Jodi Elkington</a> became Commonwealth champions.</p>
<p>Eleanor Patterson, who won the high jump in Glasgow, is in her final year at school and is from the Gippsland town of Leongatha. </p>
<h1>Team sports</h1>
<p>The Games ended with three Australian gold medals in team sports:</p>
<ol>
<li>the Australian women’s hockey captain, <a href="http://www.hockey.org.au/National-Teams/Hockeyroos-women/Hockeyroos-Squad/ContentId/17">Madonna Blyth</a>, scored the decisive shoot-out goal to defeat England</li>
<li>the men’s hockey team won convincingly against India. They have won every hockey gold medal since the sport entered the Games in 1998</li>
<li>the women’s netball team won their final against New Zealand to regain the gold medal after 12 years.</li>
</ol>
<h2>… and let’s not forget Kiribati</h2>
<p><a href="http://results.glasgow2014.com/athlete/weightlifting/1026360/d_katoatau.html">David Katoatau</a> secured Kiribati’s first Commonwealth Games medal as the winner of the 105kg weightlifting competition.</p>
<p>The competitive nature of these Games has done a great deal to highlight the benefits of holding a quadrennial multi-games event. Most people understand that achievements in the Games must be kept in context. </p>
<p>Within them there are world-class performances and achievements while at the same time they give nations with limited infrastructure and funding the opportunity to compete. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30042/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Lyons does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>After 11 days of competition, the 2014 Commonwealth Games have wound up, with 35 countries sharing 1,385 medals in 261 medal events. It was also the first time since 1986 Australia didn’t finish top of…Keith Lyons, Adjunct Professor of Sport Studies, UC-RISE, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/300462014-08-04T05:03:02Z2014-08-04T05:03:02ZKitsch and Kylie – but one surprise at the Glasgow closing ceremony<p>I hope you didn’t sleep through or otherwise avoid the closing ceremony of the Glasgow <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/glasgow-2014">2014 Commonwealth Games</a>, especially its Gold Coast 2018 handover component. </p>
<p>If so, you surely missed a production marking “a pivotal time in the psyche of the people of Australia”, <a href="http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2013/12/18/local-flavour-as-gold-coast-becomes-host-city">according to Nigel Chamier</a>, chairman of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation (<a href="http://www.gc2018.com/?name=about-us">GOLDOC</a>).</p>
<p>But as the Gold Coast grabbed its moment in Glasgow’s Hampden Park Stadium floodlights – and Australian steeplechaser Genevieve LaCaze pulled off a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/aug/04/genevieve-lacaze-invades-glasgow-games-stage-kylie-minogue">cheeky stage bomb</a> – Scotland had one final shot at representing itself to the world. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/was-the-commonwealth-games-opening-ceremony-any-good-29676">opening ceremony</a> had offered a large diet of potted Scotlandia, including a giant kilt, the Loch Ness Monster, Rod Stewart, tea cakes, shipbuilding, bagpipes, Susan Boyle, acres of tartan, a hyper-inflated haggis and Scottie dogs. It also embraced UNICEF and same-sex relationships. </p>
<p>How, then, to follow a show that had received reviews ranging from “<a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts-ents/tv-radio/tv-review-commonwealth-games-opening-ceremony.1406154484">a hideous embarrassment</a>” to “<a href="http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/record-view-majestic-opening-ceremony-3902922">a spectacular success</a>” in rival Scottish newspapers?</p>
<h2>History of spectacle</h2>
<p>Grand sporting ceremonies tend to polarise their audiences, especially those from the host city/nation. Reportedly, when Glasgow 2014 head of ceremonies David Zolkwer went the democratic route and invited lists from Scots detailing which <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2703216/Tunnocks-Tea-Cakes-Irn-Bru-Forth-Bridge-Gretna-Green-Glasgow-opens-Commonwealth-Games-world-Scottish-flavour.html">national icons</a> should be in and out of the opening ceremony, he found that the lists were essentially identical. </p>
<p>In this symbolic battleground, the strongest defence is to claim to be “ironic”.</p>
<p>A messy mixture of the clichéd, the serious, the commercial and the kitsch, such ceremonies are never going to please the high-minded, while quirky cultural in-jokes pioneered at the Sydney 2000 Olympic ceremonies, and knowingly adopted at the London 2012 Olympics and in Glasgow, tend to produce quizzical looks among the uninitiated.</p>
<p>The overwhelming imperative is to be spectacular, to chew up a lot of broadcast time, generate big global audiences (estimated at more than a <a href="http://www.glasgow2014.com/celebrate/ceremonies">billion</a> for both the Glasgow opening and closing ceremonies) and attract interest to the sport and location. </p>
<p>But ceremonies are also required to make a statement about the hosts and, through the handover, about their successors.</p>
<h2>Mixed messages</h2>
<p>So what did the Glasgow closing ceremony say about Scotland today? Well, there were successful pop acts of longstanding Lulu and Deacon Blue, more massed tartan and bagpipes, and London-based Australian Kylie Minogue, the latter to the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/commonwealthgames/11008910/Commonwealth-Games-closing-ceremony-as-it-happened.html">chagrin of locals</a> wanting someone from the “Toon” and who felt that there was “too much Oz and not enough Scot”.</p>
<p>But it did end proceedings with a karaoke-like rendition of Rabbie Burns’s quintessential Scottish song of loss and yearning, Auld Lang Syne. </p>
<p>And what of Australia’s 13-minute cameo? Despite their brevity, such performances are fraught with danger, as producer Ric Birch found with the Atlanta 1996 Olympic handover to Sydney (especially its use of inflatable kangaroos and other fake fauna) being <a href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1309&dat=19960807&id=kghPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WRUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5248,2817502">roundly criticised</a> by then-New South Wales premier Bob Carr, who felt that: “we can do better than that and we have enough creative people to devise images and symbols that promote us in a more impressive light.”</p>
<p>The event production company, <a href="http://www.daeglobal.com/">David Atkins Enterprises</a>, has some serious credentials to handle the passing of the proverbial baton from Glasgow to the Gold Coast. </p>
<p>Among the <a href="http://www.daeglobal.com/productions/ceremonies/">ceremonies</a> that artistic director Atkins and crew have given to the world are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Sydney 2000 and Vancouver 2010 Olympics</li>
<li>New Zealand 2011 Rugby World Cup</li>
<li>Doha 2006 Asian Games</li>
<li>Doha 2011 12th Arab Games</li>
<li>Shanghai 2010 Expo. </li>
</ul>
<p>He also directed the handover from Manchester to Melbourne at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.</p>
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<p>Having once been responsible for artistic direction of Channel Nine’s Hey Hey It’s Saturday, Atkins could be expected to have intimate knowledge of the Australian cultural vernacular. The more parochial Queenslander, though, may have questioned charging a Sydneysider with the task of showing the Gold Coast in its best light. </p>
<p>Singer Jessica Mauboy, surfer Mick Fanning, Australian team captain Sally Pearson, Gold Coast locals and dancer-actors fronted what was essentially a glossy tourism promotion. This was not surprising as Tourism Australia, Tourism and Events Queensland, Gold Coast Tourism and the City of Gold Coast all helped develop the brief for the handover segment. </p>
<p>Viewers looking for a more intricate tapestry, such as evocations of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-end-justifies-the-means-why-queensland-is-losing-the-bikie-war-21948">outlaw bikie gangs</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/dredging-set-to-swamp-decades-of-great-barrier-reef-protection-20442">dredging</a> around the Great Barrier Reef, would have been disappointed.</p>
<p>The only disruption to choreographed proceedings came later with LaCaze’s <a href="http://www.news.com.au/sport/commonwealth-games/genevieve-lacaze-bombs-kylie-minogues-commonwealth-games-closing-ceremony-performance/story-fnnx3zsr-1227012389267">uninvited performance</a> among the topless male dancers while “our Kylie” (as she was called by Australian commentators) was switching costumes. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">LaCaze: ‘I’m turning 25 – why not?’</span></figcaption>
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<p>As “pivotal times in the psyche of the people of Australia” go, this larrikin act seemed to lodge more in the national consciousness – certainly among its media – than the handover’s images of sea, sand and skyscrapers on the Gold Coast.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30046/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Rowe currently receives funding from the Australian Research Council for the Discovery Projects 'A Nation of "Good Sports"? Cultural Citizenship and Sport in Contemporary Australia' (DP130104502) and 'Australian Cultural Fields: National and Transnational Dynamics' (DP140101970).</span></em></p>I hope you didn’t sleep through or otherwise avoid the closing ceremony of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, especially its Gold Coast 2018 handover component. If so, you surely missed a production…David Rowe, Professor of Cultural Research, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/286192014-08-03T20:05:09Z2014-08-03T20:05:09ZFrom Glasgow to the Gold Coast: what to expect in 2018<p>It’s hard to think of any two Commonwealth Games host cities more different than Glasgow and the Gold Coast in faraway Australia, home to the 2018 Games. </p>
<p>But as our small university delegation discovered after making a 30-hour trip across the world a fortnight ago, Glasgow has set a high bar for the Gold Coast to follow – not just with their venues, but with the warmth of their welcome to visitors.</p>
<h2>From cobblestones to surf beaches</h2>
<p>Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow is a 12th century, magnificent, cobble-stoned place, which is being revived after a long <a href="https://glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3372">post-industrial depression</a>. The Glaswegians I met at the Games were very proud of their city, and keen to tell how they and their ancestors were born there over many centuries. </p>
<p>In contrast, the Gold Coast is blessed with 40 kilometres of beautiful surf beaches and sub-tropical sunshine almost year round. </p>
<p>Not far from the coast, we also have lush, <a href="http://www.queenslandholidays.com.au/things-to-see-and-do/gondwana-rainforests-of-australia/index.cfm">World Heritage-listed rainforests</a>, and mountainous terrain that will severely test the stamina of the 2018 Games bike riders. </p>
<p>But the vast majority of Gold Coasters – like me – were not born in our city, which is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Australia_by_population">Australia’s sixth largest</a>. It’s a mobile and multicultural population of <a href="http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/thegoldcoast/default.html">more than half a million residents</a>, including a <a href="http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/thegoldcoast/indigenous-people-894.html">proud but relatively small Indigenous population</a>. </p>
<p>It’s also a tourist mecca for both Australians and millions of people from overseas, with particular appeal for surfers, backpackers, and Asian and Middle Eastern tourists.</p>
<h2>The Gold Coast’s long and short history</h2>
<p>Senior members of the Glasgow City Council asked us how old the Gold Coast was. Our answer? Somewhere from tens of thousands of years old – with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Gold_Coast,_Queensland">archaeological proof of Aboriginal occupation</a> going back at least that far – to as young as just <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Coast_City">66 years old</a>.</p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Where today’s skyscrapers stand: an aerial view from the beach end of Cavill Avenue looking south to Broadbeach, 1955.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.surfersparadise.com/about-surfers-paradise/history">Gold Coast City Council Local Studies Library</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A bemused council member then asked about the Gold Coast’s oldest public building. After scratching our heads for a while we couldn’t come up with an answer – perhaps because none of the five-strong delegation was a born and bred Gold Coaster. Both sides decided it was time for a drink.</p>
<p>Having thought about it since, there’s good reason why we couldn’t name any historic public buildings: there are none, at least not by Glaswegian standards. Some of our oldest buildings include beachside bathing pools, like <a href="https://heritage-register.ehp.qld.gov.au/placeDetail.html?siteId=16028">the Main Beach Pavilion</a>, built in the 1930s to cater for the influx of people after the First World War who were not yet comfortable in the surf. </p>
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<h2>Let the next Games begin</h2>
<p>The Gold Coast is in the middle of a massive building and redevelopment boom. (You can watch the <a href="http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/sport/imagine-gc2018-take-a-look-at-how-the-gold-coast-will-be-transformed-when-it-hosts-the-commonwealth-games/story-fnj94ixl-1227009462025">Gold Coast Bulletin’s new video and photos of the major Games venues here</a>.)</p>
<p>But it’s not all for the Games. The world-class Gold Coast University Hospital was only opened in the last year and overlooks the site of the 2018 Games Village. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.griffith.edu.au/">Griffith University</a>, established in 1971, is the largest and best-known of the city’s <a href="http://www.studygoldcoast.org.au/gold-coast-learning/universities">three universities</a>, and sits next to the Games Village. Its contemporary architecture is a long way from the centuries-old spires of Glasgow University.</p>
<p>Together with the hospital, the expanding university forms the heart of the new <a href="http://www.griffith.edu.au/health/griffith-health/gold-coast-health-and-knowledge-precinct">Health and Knowledge Precinct</a>, which is likely to be one of the main legacies of the 2018 Games. </p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Commonwealth Games Village site.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Queensland Government</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A sunny Scottish surprise</h2>
<p>Coming to Glasgow from Queensland – known locally as the Sunshine State – we had packed for Scottish weather with rain coats, overcoats and jumpers. </p>
<p>But we were in for a shock: the temperature was 27 degrees, the kind of <a href="http://www.weatherzone.com.au/climate/station.jsp?lt=site&lc=40764">weather we enjoy on the Gold Coast</a> for most of the year. </p>
<p>The locals couldn’t believe it either. Strangely to us, hordes of people sat eating in outdoor cafes in the sun, with no umbrellas or shade. Few Australians do this, as we have the world’s worst skin cancers.</p>
<p>So the weather became a major conversation point in a way we didn’t expect: we Australians complained about the heat, while the Scots laughed and warned us to enjoy it, as it surely couldn’t last (<a href="https://twitter.com/SteveGlasson/status/494448139307212800/photo/1">and it didn’t</a>).</p>
<p>But we found that Glasgow’s cooler climate is more than made up for by its people. It must be one of the friendliest cities in the United Kingdom and Europe. The Scots are not always known for their roguish charm and hospitality, but that’s what we received, admittedly at Games time.</p>
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<h2>Glasgow’s lessons for the Gold Coast and beyond</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.gc2018.com/">Gold Coast 2018 Games</a> will be very different to Glasgow. For a start, we can’t ask Birmingham, London, Manchester and Liverpool to send 500 buses to assist us with transportation. We can’t conjure up a history we don’t have, or a gritty tenacity that is peculiarly Scottish. We don’t have kilts and bagpipes either. </p>
<p>But we can learn from the best of what the Scots have done, especially the way they have seized the opportunity of the 2014 Games to revitalise their great city. </p>
<p>Glasgow’s long-term legacy programs – conceived of and delivered by locally-based community groups across the city and across Scotland – include the redevelopment of the troubled East End with recreational and housing infrastructure and the Games sporting infrastructure. The sustainable health and fitness projects we saw were truly inspired.</p>
<p>The Scots’ attention to detail especially for security was precise and comprehensive. If any one thing unnerved us, it was the scale and complexity required for the job ahead. </p>
<p>Just as importantly, the way the city hosted the event was friendly and welcoming. Clearly, the ‘how’ was as important as the ‘what’. They were never bossy, never too pushy: it was just constant, friendly efficiency. But you knew you were being watched, that someone was on the job – and that was very reassuring.</p>
<p>My colleagues and I returned to the Gold Coast with new questions to ask, including how we can achieve Glasgow’s level of security, especially establishing a buffer around our Games Village, which will be overlooked by two hospitals and a university. And will our new light rail project match the transport might of 500 British buses?</p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One of the Gold Coast’s new light rail trams at Cavill Station in Surfers Paradise.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Simon Morris/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>But as the world saw with the successful 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, Australians always get the job done. And the exceptionally good 2018 Games Organising Committee is well on the way in its planning, even if it still has only 42 staff. </p>
<p>If you come to the Gold Coast in four years’ time, expect to be dazzled by our beaches, our sunshine and our efficiency in putting on big sporting events. If we can do all that, and give visitors as warm a welcome as we enjoyed in Glasgow, we’ll have done our job.</p>
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<p></p><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/63276004"></a> <a href="http://vimeo.com/gc2018"></a><a href="https://vimeo.com"></a></p><p></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28619/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Madden recently retired as Pro Vice Chancellor (International) at Griffith University. He is the Strategic Advisor to Griffith for the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, which involves advising on strategies for the university to assist the state and local government and the Commonwealth Games Committee in the running of the 2018 Games. It also involves work on community engagement, legacy issues for the university, opportunities for students in volunteering, community and cultural engagement, internships and jobs.</span></em></p>It’s hard to think of any two Commonwealth Games host cities more different than Glasgow and the Gold Coast in faraway Australia, home to the 2018 Games. But as our small university delegation discovered…Chris Madden, Strategic Advisor on the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/289482014-08-01T15:57:19Z2014-08-01T15:57:19ZCan a human ever run 100m under nine seconds?<p>It is never easy to run 100m in less than ten seconds, as the recent Commonwealth Games demonstrated. However, as the world record stands at 9.58 seconds, the attention in recent years has turned to whether a human will be able to run 100m in less than nine seconds one day.</p>
<p>Our thoughts, based on 20 years of investigating the biomechanics of sprinting, are “of course they can”. There is no limit to human sprinting in sight yet. Humans have run competitively (with time records available) for only about 100 years. In the context of human evolution, this is far too short a period to analyse with a view of making long-term predictions for the future. Records are still being broken, and training and technology (for example, track surfaces and running spikes) are continuously developed further. </p>
<p>In fact, from Jim Hines’ beating the ten-second barrier for the first time in 1968 to Maurice Green in 1999, the world record improved by 0.16 seconds in 31 years, but since then the record has been improved by 0.21 seconds in only ten years. This does not necessarily imply that the development of the record is speeding up, just that we cannot consider human limits in a short-term perspective. </p>
<p>There have always been and there will always be humans who make new leaps in these kinds of records. To develop the argument against a set limit in human performance further, why would not Usain Bolt have a son who is just a bit taller, stronger and faster than Usain himself, and so on?</p>
<h2>Better training and techniques</h2>
<p>The issue of improving performance is also down to better training and improving running technique. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2014.928915">In a recent scientific paper</a> we highlighted the importance of powerful gluteus (buttock) muscles for the start performance in sprinting. Athletes and coaches can then train and strengthen these key muscle groups to get out of the starting blocks better. </p>
<p>Overall, the sprinting velocity is a product of step length and step frequency. In his world record run in Berlin 2009, <a href="http://www.iaaf.org/download/download?filename=76ade5f9-75a0-4fda-b9bf-1b30b">Usain Bolt ran at 12.4m/s in his fastest phase</a>. He did this with a step length of 2.77m and step frequency of 4.49Hz. </p>
<p>For a human to run 100m in under nine seconds, this would require maximum velocity to reach about 13.2m/s. Such velocity would require, for example, step length to be 2.85m and step frequency 4.63Hz – just “modest” increases from Usain Bolt’s values. </p>
<p>But the progress is not so easy, as when athletes start to increase step length in the maximum velocity phase, it has a negative effect on step frequency. Longer steps take longer time to make and thus step frequency will go down and vice versa. Thus, it will likely take time before we see that kind of performance. The main issue is how much power (large forces in the shortest possible time) humans can produce and what the requirements are to achieve this.</p>
<h2>Long steps at a high frequency</h2>
<p>To produce long steps at a high frequency an athlete has to produce a huge amount of force (approximately 4.5 times body weight) in a very short period of time (around 0.1s). To do this they must maintain a very stiff leg and accelerate it into the ground at foot contact. <a href="http://jeb.biologists.org/content/early/2014/04/01/jeb.099523.full.pdf+html">Recent research has shown that</a> it is this difference in the forces generated in the early part of the stance phase (just after foot contact) that distinguishes very fast sprinters from the less fast ones. </p>
<p>The ability to maintain a stiff limb is determined by how muscle force can be generated in the muscles of the leg. This in turn is a function of muscle size, the types of fibres which make up the muscles and the co-ordinated activation of the muscles of the leg to optimise the use of elastic mechanisms and amplify the power from the muscles. A muscle with a high proportion of large, fast twitch muscle fibres will be able to generate larger amounts of force more quickly than a muscle with a lower proportion. </p>
<p>Therefore to reach the point at which enough force can be generated quickly enough to produce the step lengths and frequencies suggested above a combination of genetics and training would need to produce bum, thigh and calf muscles which are a little bit stronger and faster than the current best sprinters.</p>
<p>The record will start to plateau at some point and it will get harder and harder to outrun the previous record holder. But, it’s safe to say that someone will break the nine second barrier – not necessarily in our lifetime, but it will happen one day.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28948/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Polly McGuigan receives funding from Arthritis Research UK.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr A Salo has received research funding from UK Athletics.</span></em></p>It is never easy to run 100m in less than ten seconds, as the recent Commonwealth Games demonstrated. However, as the world record stands at 9.58 seconds, the attention in recent years has turned to whether…Polly McGuigan, Lecturer in Biomechanics, University of BathAki Salo, Senior Lecturer in Sport Biomechanics, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/299512014-07-31T20:48:41Z2014-07-31T20:48:41ZTrust is a must for coaches and athletes – just ask Sally Pearson<p>Long-running tension between Australian athletics team captain Sally Pearson and head coach Eric Hollingsworth has boiled over after the coach <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/commonwealth-games-glasgow-2014/commonwealth-games-news/athletics-australia-suspends-coach-eric-hollingsworth-for-criticising-sally-pearson-20140731-zyqz6.html">was suspended</a> for publicly criticising the Olympic gold medallist.</p>
<p>In the high-pressure world of elite sport, coaches play a pivotal role but perhaps the only surprising thing about Pearson’s high profile bust up is that ruptures of this sort don’t occur more frequently. </p>
<p>Coaches have to balance challenging and nurturing their athletes. Too much of either and the relationship can fall apart, or cease to be productive.</p>
<p>Athletes such as Pearson also contend with an additional layer of complexity. A strong relationship with a personal coach that has been a precondition for success is often disrupted when the athlete has to answer to a new, team coach. Patterns of behaviour and interaction formed in one coaching relationship might not be appropriate or applicable to another.</p>
<p>An effective athlete/coach relationship boils down to one thing, trust: </p>
<ul>
<li>trust that each individual believes in and respects the other</li>
<li>trust that commitments are kept and honoured </li>
<li>trust that athlete and coach are pursuing shared objectives</li>
<li>trust that allows hard truths to be shared </li>
</ul>
<p>Some people call this the “tough love” approach and view it as essential to achieving performance results. But it’s important to remember that:</p>
<ol>
<li>it is not what you say but <em>how</em> you say it that is important</li>
<li>tough love is usually most effective in a private conversation. </li>
</ol>
<p>Without a high level of trust as the foundation, an athlete’s self-confidence can often significantly deteriorate, along with their performance.</p>
<h2>Team vs individual sports</h2>
<p>In team environments individual feedback is still an important part of an athlete’s development, but coaching is often geared towards the group. Furthermore, there’s often a range of assistant coaches and support staff that contribute to each athlete’s performance. </p>
<p>With individual sports, the focus of the coach is solely upon the individual athlete’s progress. Significant time is spent one-on-one in this context. Without an effective working relationship, it is highly likely that performance will falter which might result in the athlete might seeking assistance elsewhere, another factor that can cause conflict and erode trust.</p>
<p>An athlete might work exclusively with their own coach for 99% of their training and competition time throughout the year. But when they make the Australian team the athlete might be suddenly faced with having to adapt to the different style of a head coach. In these situations there is often limited time to replicate the type of strong working relationship they might already have with their home coach.</p>
<p>If the athlete turns to their own coach during international competition periods it can cause conflict – particularly if their own coach didn’t get an accreditation to be able to enter the athlete village or competition venues and is trying to coach from a distance. </p>
<p>Some of the most effective athlete/coach relationships documented over time haven’t always been the ones where the individuals involved have necessarily liked each other all the time. But they have been relationships where mutual respect has been present. When it comes to Sally Pearson and Eric Hollingsworth, this might be a question that only they can answer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29951/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gene Moyle does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Long-running tension between Australian athletics team captain Sally Pearson and head coach Eric Hollingsworth has boiled over after the coach was suspended for publicly criticising the Olympic gold medallist…Gene Moyle, Associate Professor in Creative Industries, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/298102014-07-31T05:07:00Z2014-07-31T05:07:00ZThe brain has a remarkable ability to cope with dehydration during exercise<p>When it comes to physical exercise, we don’t tend to take into account how important our brain is for keeping our whole body going. But our ability to control our muscles – to keep them contracting and relaxing – and move our bodies precisely how we want them to, is ultimately determined by our brain. </p>
<p>This vital organ is in command of generating the precious electrical impulses that repeatedly spark muscle contraction and keep our bodies moving how we want them to. The exact way the human brain copes with extreme conditions of environmental stress and exercise is not yet fully understood. But <a href="http://jp.physoc.org/content/592/14/3143.full.pdf+html">new research</a> I worked on at Brunel University’s Centre for Sports Medicine and Human Performance shows how the brain reacts to being dehydrated during intense exercise.</p>
<p>It is general knowledge that when people work or compete in hot environments and become markedly dehydrated from losing significant amounts of body fluids from sweating, they feel tired sooner and their performance deteriorates drastically. But working out the role of the brain in this fatigue is a major challenge. </p>
<p>It’s long been established that dehydration from exercising in the heat detrimentally affects blood flow to the body’s muscles – which is fundamental to transporting oxygen and producing the energy needed to <a href="http://jp.physoc.org/content/513/3/895.full.pdf+html">keep muscles working effectively</a>. With this background, we asked whether the brain might also experience an energy deficit, which could explain why athletes feel tired sooner and slow down or stop exercising prematurely when they are noticeably dehydrated. </p>
<p>We set out to better understand the impact of dehydration on the supply of blood and oxygen to the brain and the consequences that reductions in this might have on the metabolic processes that generate the energy required for optimal brain functioning. The combination of precise measures of blood flow and blood samples to and from the brain allowed us to gain new insight into the human brain at work in exercise.</p>
<h2>The ‘smart’ mechanism</h2>
<p>As well as establishing how important it is for the brain to stay hydrated, we found that the human brain possesses a “smart” mechanism to cope with the challenge of reduced blood and oxygen supply. We collected data on blood flow to the brain using new techniques to measure the blood velocity and diameter of the internal carotid artery, the main vessel supplying blood to the brain. We also measured oxygen levels in the blood supplying the brain and the internal jugular vein, which drains blood directed from the brain. </p>
<p>These measures allow us to determine the difference between the amount of oxygen going into the brain and how much is extracted from the circulation for metabolic use. We then calculated the brain aerobic metabolism during different exercise stages and conditions. Measurements were obtained in ten trained males during incremental cycling to volitional exhaustion in a hot environment, and compared under control, dehydrated and rehydrated states. </p>
<p>Published in The Journal of Physiology, the data we collected showed that when humans exercise to the point of exhaustion, dehydration causes an early reduction in brain blood flow. But, to compensate for this, there is an increase in oxygen extraction from the blood circulating in the brain, which protects the brain’s ability to process oxygen and function. </p>
<p>This data showed that the brain copes better than the body’s muscles with the stress of dehydration and exhaustive exercise. From an evolutionary perspective, this makes perfect sense – brain function lies on top in the hierarchy of the human body systems, as small impairments in its function could be deadly. </p>
<p>Dehydration reduced body mass, increased internal body temperature, lowered cerebral blood flow and impaired exercise capacity. Conversely, a regular uptake of fluids prevented the body mass and temperature changes and restored normal exercise capacity and brain blood flow dynamics. </p>
<p>These findings advance our understanding of how the human brain responds to strenuous exercise. It is now clear that conditions invoking extreme stress on the body reduces blood flow to many parts of the body including the brain. But this vital organ is able to preserve oxygen consumption which is of utmost importance for sustaining its function.</p>
<p>The findings also clearly substantiate the recommendation that people drink fluids during exercise, as this helps optimise performance.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29810/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jose Gonzalez-Alonso has received funding from the Gatorade Sport Sciences Institute, which is owned by PepsiCo Inc. </span></em></p>When it comes to physical exercise, we don’t tend to take into account how important our brain is for keeping our whole body going. But our ability to control our muscles – to keep them contracting and…José González-Alonso, Professor (Exercise and Cardiovascular Physiology); Director (Centre for Sports Medicine and Human Performance), Brunel University LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/296522014-07-30T03:59:14Z2014-07-30T03:59:14ZCommon ground: how mountain biking will leave a lasting legacy<p>Mountain bikers took to trails around Glasgow yesterday, with <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/commonwealth-games/2014/results/sports/cycling/mens-cross-country">men’s</a> and <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/commonwealth-games/2014/results/sports/cycling/womens-cross-country">women’s</a> cross-country races run at the new purpose-built <a href="http://www.glasgow2014.com/your-games/venues/cathkin-braes-mountain-bike-trails">Cathkin Braes Country Park</a>. </p>
<p>There’s more to the event than steep slopes and slippery tracks, though – competitive mountain biking will play a large role in contributing to the Commonwealth Games legacy and transform Scotland for the better.</p>
<p>I’ll explain further in a bit – first, though, let’s chart Glasgow’s cultural renaissance in the 1980s and 1990s.</p>
<p>Tempered by an array of cultural-heritage developments (the <a href="http://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/museums/burrell-collection/Pages/default.aspx">Burrell Collection</a> being one) it was also a time when major public events in Glasgow played a significant part in revising the physical and social fabric of the post-industrial city. </p>
<p>It hosted the <a href="http://www.clyde-valley.com/glasgow/garden3.htm">Glasgow Garden Festival</a> of 1988 and was named <a href="http://ecoc-doc-athens.eu/attachments/472_Glasgow%201990%20European%20City%20of%20Culture.pdf">1990 European City of Culture</a>. And more than most post-industrial cities, Glasgow sought to use arts and culture not just to show how Glasgow was “cool”, but as a way to integrate communities (multicultural and multifaith) in producing, consuming and enjoying culture and the arts. It is the first city in the UK to launch a dedicated <a href="http://www.glasgowmajorevents.com/">Major Events Strategy</a> (in 2005).</p>
<h2>Legacy 2014 (and beyond)</h2>
<p>As Commonwealth Games host it is seen not only as safe pair of hands, but also as a place likely to most effectively use the benefits hosting a Commonwealth Games brings. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55163/original/qpzv32wg-1406617569.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55163/original/qpzv32wg-1406617569.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55163/original/qpzv32wg-1406617569.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55163/original/qpzv32wg-1406617569.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55163/original/qpzv32wg-1406617569.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55163/original/qpzv32wg-1406617569.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55163/original/qpzv32wg-1406617569.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55163/original/qpzv32wg-1406617569.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scotland’s no stranger to mountain bike events.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Like Melbourne in 2006, “accessibility”, “connectiveness” of services and transport (for visitors and business), “inclusiveness”, “environmental responsibility”, “promotion to the world and engagement of communities” are writ large in the <a href="http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/aboutcouncil/meetings/lists/councilmeetingagendaitems/attachments/95/c2_61_200605300530.pdf">objectives</a> of the 2014 Commonwealth Games.</p>
<p>In academia – as in the media – we see (and sometimes contest) the capacity for major events such as the Commonwealth Games to provide a long-term legacy.</p>
<p>For Scotland, <a href="http://www.legacy2014.co.uk/">Legacy 2014</a> articulates a grounded desire to enable Scottish business, young people, school children and its communities. It also pronounces proudly that it will inspire everyone to be more active. These targets are captured through the <a href="http://www.legacy2014.co.uk/what-is-legacy/legacy-programmes">four main themes</a> of the legacy programmes:</p>
<ul>
<li>flourishing: contributing to the growth of the Scottish Economy</li>
<li>active: helping Scots to be more physically active</li>
<li>connected: strengthening learning and culture at home and internationally</li>
<li>sustainable: demonstrating our environmental responsibility and helping communities live more sustainably.</li>
</ul>
<h2>So where does mountain biking come in?</h2>
<p>The Cathkin Country Park is one of 14 areas of woodland in and around Glasgow that are part of the <a href="http://www.commonwoods.org.uk">Common Woods project</a> – part of Legacy 2014. They are offered to a generation of people to enjoy; to “get involved”, “get active” and “be inspired”. It brings the countryside to the city.</p>
<p>The races are challenging. Local, national and international viewers (whether present or through television coverage) will get an opportunity to see not just a facility that is both a key component of the games and a resource for the population, but also part of a transformed landscape. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Uq3qSPb7ph4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>The Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland (<a href="http://www.dmbins.com/">DMBS</a>) is a national strategic framework for the sustainable economic and environmental development of mountain biking. As a consortium of national bodies working to ensure a wider aim of increasing tourism, economic benefits, sport development and accessibility, we see further evidence of “joined up” policy action. </p>
<p>This, we hope, will be a success shown in many other developments that articulate with the Commonwealth Games. </p>
<p>As both a Scot by birth and as an Australian by residence, I’ll keep secret who I’m supporting throughout the Games. What I can tell you is that the mountain bike races are example of the “trickle down” effect of the Commonwealth Games. </p>
<p>It is not a silver bullet. It is part of a rich mosaic of developments transforming Scotland. As a place to live, do business and enjoy a healthy and active lifestyle it will be interesting to watch Scotland progress after the Commonwealth Games. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29652/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Robertson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Mountain bikers took to trails around Glasgow yesterday, with men’s and women’s cross-country races run at the new purpose-built Cathkin Braes Country Park. There’s more to the event than steep slopes…Martin Robertson, Lecturer, Event Management & Research Associate, Institute of Sport Exercise & Active Living (ISEAL), Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/295462014-07-29T20:26:36Z2014-07-29T20:26:36ZPerfect pitch: how Australian hockey took the world by storm<p>With the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/glasgow-2014">Commonwealth Games</a> underway, it’s time to take a look at a sport with a long and successful history in Australia – field hockey. </p>
<p>Both the Australian men and women’s teams have gone to Glasgow as gold medal favourites. The Kookaburras are <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-could-win-the-world-cup-in-the-netherlands-27566">number one</a> in the world, and their female counterparts the Hockeyroos aren’t far behind, sitting at number two. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nAfzagRAS74?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Relive the men’s final of the hockey World Cup.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So what is it that makes these Australian teams so successful? </p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/PattyFblp">Tricia Heberle</a>, former Hockeyroo, women’s England coach and now high performance director for Hockey Australia, highlights three key areas that have contributed to this success: high standards, willingness to embrace technology and looking for talent further afield.</p>
<h2>1. Aim high</h2>
<p>Australian hockey culture positions national representation as the pinnacle of the sport, reflected in players’ attitudes and elite level funding priorities. </p>
<p>This is in contrast to the European system where the “country versus club” issue is a battle, and in spite of the much smaller distances to travel, contact hours with national teams are very limited. </p>
<p>Strong talent development pathways, quality of people in administration and leadership within Australian hockey and the “never happy” attitude are crucial to ongoing success. </p>
<h2>2. Embrace new technology</h2>
<p>Developed by Don Prior (an international hockey umpire), the worldwide performance analysis system <a href="http://sportstec.com/products/sportscode-10-whats-new">Sportscode</a> was first used by Australian hockey teams to conduct the first performance analyses that are commonplace today in elite sports. This innovation and attention to detail is also reflected in the approach to trends in coaching. </p>
<p>A few years ago there was debate on goalkeepers’ foot position to save drag flicks, with the trend towards a wider stance being evident. </p>
<p>Rather than leave this to chance, John Mowat, current game education manager at Hockey Australia, commissioned a study at Victoria University/ISEAL to determine if a wider stance was, in fact, optimal. </p>
<p>And, it turns out, it is – movement times to save shots to the four corners of the goal are shorter with a wide stance. </p>
<p>Currently there are studies examining optimal technique in hitting, flicking and tomahawk execution (see video below) and how to develop these skills in juniors as well as examining the optimal field-size-to-player-number ratio for small-sided games in juniors. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DfTNB_r99r8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">How to execute a tomahawk.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. Look outside cities</h2>
<p>It is interesting to note that there is a strong “country” effect in both teams. While approximately 22% of Australians live in smaller towns fewer than 100,000 people, the women’s team boasts 10 players from this group (63% of the team) while the men’s team has eight (50%). </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55149/original/fxnp6tyv-1406611770.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55149/original/fxnp6tyv-1406611770.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55149/original/fxnp6tyv-1406611770.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55149/original/fxnp6tyv-1406611770.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55149/original/fxnp6tyv-1406611770.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55149/original/fxnp6tyv-1406611770.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55149/original/fxnp6tyv-1406611770.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55149/original/fxnp6tyv-1406611770.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisbartle/5873208064">Chris Bartle</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This over-representation of country-born-and-bred players relative to the general population has been found in some other sports with factors such as more “free play”.</p>
<p>This may be due to earlier opportunities to play senior sport or simply watching their parents play from a young age.</p>
<p>We do, though, need to continue to find better ways to develop players, identify talent earlier, and manage changes in society which impinge on activity levels of children and adolescents, resulting in a different injury and athletic profile than in previous years. </p>
<p>Further, the provision of international games for junior players is a difficult issue compared to European nations, who can play two or three international teams in close proximity.</p>
<p>Ex-Kookaburra <a href="http://corporate.olympics.com.au/athlete/david-wansbrough">David Wansbrough</a> summed up the state of Australian hockey best when he told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] at the end of the day hockey is like a lot of other Aussie sports […]. We play and compete hard. We are prepared to work hard. We have some smart people across the sport. We are prepared to innovate.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29546/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With the Commonwealth Games underway, it’s time to take a look at a sport with a long and successful history in Australia – field hockey. Both the Australian men and women’s teams have gone to Glasgow…Melissa Penn, PhD Student in Biomechanics and Skill Acquisition, Victoria UniversityKevin Ball, Doctor; Lecturer in Sports Biomechanics, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/294352014-07-29T16:51:55Z2014-07-29T16:51:55ZSpiky Clyde is no wallflower, but has he got staying power to help define games’ legacy?<p>He may have entered your life abruptly over the past few days. With his purple mohican, jagged green hands and the sort of red, yellow and blue get-up that would trouble most prospective in-laws, Clyde the thistle is anything but a wallflower. </p>
<p>The Glasgow Commonwealth Games mascot was designed by 12-year-old Beth Gilmour from Cumbernauld and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-19651062">selected from over 4000 other applicants</a>. </p>
<p>The difficulty in designing a good mascot lies in creating a character that both resonates with the event and represents the image that the host city wishes to convey to its global audience. So the prickly question facing Clyde the thistle is, how effective is this part-man, part-plant? </p>
<p>The use of brand mascots is widespread across retail and commerce. They are adopted as a means of enhancing the brand of events. Well designed mascots can visually communicate a complex set of values, and elicit an emotional response across a wide population. They are also capable of gaining the attention of people who may not have otherwise been interested, and they have the advantage of being manipulable spokespersons. </p>
<p>A basic analysis of Clyde the thistle in terms of the characteristics considered important in semiotics, which is the science of signs, reveals a number of interesting points. Clyde has a strong identification with the games and with its host city. He signifies the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games by having the logo emblazoned on his chest. Garbed in modern sports kit and trainers, he is clearly ready to partake in physical activity. He relates to the city of Glasgow by adopting the name Clyde, its famous river. He evokes the host nation by wearing a vest fashioned from the St Andrews Cross, and by taking the form of a thistle, Scotland’s national flower. </p>
<p>Using a human-like thistle represents something of a risk, though. Choosing such a “not so ordinary” image could mean audiences find it unrecognisable and difficult to relate to, which would reduce its effectiveness and attractiveness. The best example of this at a mega event was Izzy, the much-derided amorphous design for the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games whose appearance changed during the event to try to increase his appeal – without much success, it must be said. </p>
<p>The adoption of Clyde the thistle happens to be the first time the official mascot for the Commonwealth Games has not been an animal, the trend having started with a bear called Keyano at the 1978 games in Edmonton, Canada. The last Commonwealth Games saw Shera the tiger in Delhi 2010. The most recent two occasions when the games took place in the UK saw the adoption of Kit the Kat (Manchester 2002) and Mac the Scottie dog (Edinburgh 1986).</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54295/original/6n9knzbx-1405695547.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54295/original/6n9knzbx-1405695547.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=894&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54295/original/6n9knzbx-1405695547.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=894&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54295/original/6n9knzbx-1405695547.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=894&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54295/original/6n9knzbx-1405695547.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1124&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54295/original/6n9knzbx-1405695547.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1124&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54295/original/6n9knzbx-1405695547.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1124&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Misha the bear, practising his friendly face.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kalak/3263030081/sizes/s/">Timo Kirkkala/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On a positive note, the decision to give Clyde the thistle a face is a strength. Clyde has big eyes, a cheeky smile and a youthful haircut, making him somewhat childlike and appealing across many cultures. Historically, the most famous mega event mascots all have faces, like Misha the bear from the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games. </p>
<p>The use of a face allows a mascot to transfer emotion easily and engage quickly with an audience, an aspect thought to be pivotal for successful brand marketing, This was a point that was lost on the designers of Wenlock and Mandeville, the mascots for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Clyde also looks straight at the viewer, representing an openness to engage and build relationships with others. This gaze is largely horizontal also confirms an equality of power and status.</p>
<p>So overall, from the perspective of those of us who deal in semiotics – the science of signs – Clyde the thistle appears largely to be an effective mascot. </p>
<p>Overall, from a semiotic perspective, Clyde the Thistle appears to be a largely effective mascot – albeit with reservations about using a humanised plant and not the more traditional animal designs used in previous Commonwealth Games. </p>
<p>Since many mascots are pitched towards children, it will be interesting to see in the months to come whether our children and grandchildren easily recognise Clyde the thistle (Scottish schoolchildren will have the advantage that he has been heavily used in schools in the run-up to the games). If we buy <a href="http://www.glasgow2014.com/media-centre/press-releases/now-its-clyde-soft-toy-and-hes-coming-home-near-you">the children’s toy</a>, will they relate to the human-like thistle enough to want to play with it? Analysis might be useful, but ultimately it is the public who will decide how effective the different aspects of the games have been, and shape their legacy for years to come. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29435/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gerald Griggs does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>He may have entered your life abruptly over the past few days. With his purple mohican, jagged green hands and the sort of red, yellow and blue get-up that would trouble most prospective in-laws, Clyde…Gerald Griggs, Senior Lecturer in Physical Education and Sports Studies, University of WolverhamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/298342014-07-29T07:48:43Z2014-07-29T07:48:43ZWhy swimming records stand, even with a broken pool floor<p>You may have seen some <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/commonwealth-games-glasgow-2014/commonwealth-games-news/officials-insist-records-will-stand-despite-defective-pool-floor-20140727-zxgyj.html">controversy</a> regarding water depth in the Tollcross International Swimming Centre being used for competition at the Glasgow <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/glasgow-2014">Commonwealth Games</a>. </p>
<p>The pool has a movable floor that allows water depth to be altered, but the hydraulic mechanism became caught just before competition began and wasn’t able to be fixed. </p>
<p>Instead of the planned constant depth of 2m, the pool starts at 2m, but rises to a depth of 1.88m at the 12m length, before then dropping back to 2m deep. This hump in the bottom has led some people to question the legality of records being set in the pool. </p>
<p>But how much of a problem is it, really?</p>
<h2>Underwater reflections</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.fina.org/">FINA</a>, the international swimming federation, only requires that competition pools be a minimum of 1.35m deep within 6m of the end walls, and they may be as shallow as 1m for the rest of the pool. </p>
<p>This contrasts with the requirements for Olympic Games and World Championships that specify a minimum depth of 2m throughout, and depths of 3m have been used at recent Olympic Games. </p>
<p>Water depth is of importance because it affects the reflection of waves within the water. </p>
<p>With a shallower pool, waves created by swimmers can reflect back off the pool bottom and create extra resistance on the swimmers. This increased wave drag would slow swimmers down and make it more difficult to achieve world record times. </p>
<p>There should, therefore, be no question about the validity of swimming records being set at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. </p>
<p>Although the pool does not correspond to Olympic standards, it greatly exceeds the minimum FINA requirements for other competitions, and the difference would actually be expected to make it more difficult to achieve fast swim times. </p>
<h2>Building a ‘fast pool’</h2>
<p>While the pool depth may not be optimal, other aspects of the Tollcross Pool correspond to the modern requirements for a “fast pool”:</p>
<ul>
<li>rather than just having eight lanes for competition, the pool was built with ten lanes; the outer two lanes being left vacant during competition. Similar to the effect of pool depth, having a greater distance between swimmers and the pool depth reduces the effect of waves reflecting back off the edge</li>
<li>the side edges of the pool are slightly below water level so that waves flow over the edge into the drainage, rather than reflecting back</li>
<li>modern lane ropes resist the transmission of waves between lanes and the use of wider, 2.5m lanes further assist the isolation of waves moving between swimmers.</li>
</ul>
<p>These aspects of pool design affect wave drag, which has been estimated to contribute between 5-12% of the total drag on a swimmer. </p>
<p>At the time of writing this article, new Commonwealth records have been set in 28 different events, about 74% of the total conducted thus far, and world records have been set for four events: the Women’s 4x100m Freestyle relay, Men’s 100 m Freestyle S9, Women’s 100m Freestyle S8 and the Men’s 200 m Freestyle S14. </p>
<p>There should be no suggestion that these records were assisted by the swimming pool floor malfunction. If anything, this would be more likely to have decreased performance than to have enhanced it. </p>
<p>The results here don’t seem remarkably different to the 26 Commonwealth records set in Delhi in 2010. It is a normal result for times to reduce each four years through increases in the capability of athletes. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29834/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Sinclair does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>You may have seen some controversy regarding water depth in the Tollcross International Swimming Centre being used for competition at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. The pool has a movable floor that allows…Peter Sinclair, Senior Lecturer in Biomechanics, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/295442014-07-29T04:27:58Z2014-07-29T04:27:58ZStrained from over-training? Sensors can help prevent injury<p>As the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/glasgow-2014">2014 Commonwealth Games</a> began in Glasgow last week, a number of potential medal winners could only watch the events unfold as they were sidelined by injuries incurred at training. </p>
<p>Aussie track star Alex Rowe <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/commonwealth-games/hamstring-injury-rules-alex-rowe-out-of-commonwealth-games/story-fnntmmqt-1227002264892">injured his hamstring</a> during training on the weekend, and English heptathlete <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jul/21/katarina-johnson-thompson-commonwealth-games-foot-injury-glasgow">Katarina Johnson-Thompson</a> (foot injury), Welsh triathlon star <a href="http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/other-sport/commonwealth-games-2014-welsh-triathlete-7414001">Helen Jenkins</a> (plantar fascia) and Australian swimmers <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/shoulder-injury-puts-meagen-nay-out-of-commonwealth-games/story-e6frg7mf-1226980940387">Meagen Nay</a> (shoulder) and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jul/07/top-australian-swimmers-withdraw-from-glasgow-games">Jacqui Freney</a> (fatigue) are some of the elite athletes who overdid training prior to the Games.</p>
<p>In the lead-up to major sporting contests, it is not uncommon for athletes to exert maximum effort during training – but this can lead to injuries and either sub-standard performance or withdrawal from the event. </p>
<p>But by using small wireless sensors, athletes can maximise medal chances without pushing themselves to the point of injury.</p>
<h2>Prevention is key</h2>
<p>In order to gain a place in the team, athletes must perform at their very best at the national selection trials. The training regime following the selection trials, particularly in the weeks before the Commonwealth Games, is particularly important. </p>
<p>A full recovery from even slight injuries might require more time than is available, even with the best medical and physiotherapy support.</p>
<p>There is no obvious way to prevent these injuries or to predict the situation and time at which they might occur. The coaches and trainers must always meet this challenge and sports technology offers hope.</p>
<p>Small wireless sensors can be used to monitor the movement of various body parts, and in all sporting situations (such as in the swimming pool, in the boxing ring, on the running track, on the hockey field) in training and during events. These small, battery-powered, inertial sensors are now becoming commonplace and are available at relatively low cost. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HTnDRRErl18?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Wearable sensors helped athletes at the Sochi Winter Games.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These sensors might just be a possible solution to the training injury problem!</p>
<p>But off-the-shelf sensors do not come with the necessary analysis tools and are not standardised to the athlete’s characteristics or their sporting expertise. The key lies in the individualised interpretation of movement data, such as acceleration, rotation, speed, distance and number of repetitions.</p>
<h2>Personalised medicine</h2>
<p>Ensuring athletes have the most effective rehabilitation plan is largely dependent on their own characteristics, such as size, shape, age, fitness level and biomechanical structure.</p>
<p>For example, ankle extension of the foot is directly related to Achilles tendon “health”. This is important in preventing the onset of lower-leg injuries and helps prescribe exercise limits during rehabilitation from Achilles injury. </p>
<p>While the causes of this problem are <a href="http://sma.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/719-SMA-InjuryBrochure-Achilles_web.pdf">well known</a>, there is no specific quantitative information given in the guidelines as every athlete is different.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://sabellabs.com/sense/">SABEL Labs team</a> at Griffith University aims to individualise training guidelines by studying athletes’ basic movements at various levels (from novice through to elite) and in various sports (such as classical ballet, swimming, running, field hockey and rowing). </p>
<p>Once the training framework has been developed, the sensors will be used to monitor the training load, training movements and a warning is given if the athlete is approaching the critical limits when injury is more likely. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55081/original/n3yb253c-1406592597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55081/original/n3yb253c-1406592597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55081/original/n3yb253c-1406592597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55081/original/n3yb253c-1406592597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55081/original/n3yb253c-1406592597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55081/original/n3yb253c-1406592597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55081/original/n3yb253c-1406592597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55081/original/n3yb253c-1406592597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Martial sensors are taped to the lower leg and wrist. Boxing is a common cross-training technique used in many sports.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sarah Carter</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55082/original/pwnztnky-1406592600.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55082/original/pwnztnky-1406592600.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55082/original/pwnztnky-1406592600.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55082/original/pwnztnky-1406592600.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55082/original/pwnztnky-1406592600.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55082/original/pwnztnky-1406592600.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55082/original/pwnztnky-1406592600.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55082/original/pwnztnky-1406592600.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Usually the sensors are completely enclosed in fabric and are not visible (such as this wristband-mounted sensor).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Clearly this is not a simple, quick solution as the technique will only become reliable if the system is used consistently over long periods of training and competition times for one individual. </p>
<p>The movement data must also be matched to an individuals biometric data, skill level and fitness. For particular sports, the skill level can be ascertained through the use of calibrated drills: </p>
<ul>
<li>in field hockey, stick speed and ball control drills have been matched to performance level</li>
<li>in <a href="https://theconversation.com/smart-sensors-save-swimmers-seconds-1687">swimming</a>, swim speed and turn speed can be simply deduced from a single accelerometer located on the lower back</li>
<li>in tennis, racquet stability in forehand and backhand strokes and body movement during serve can be monitored</li>
<li>in dance, core stability during <a href="http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/ballet-moves-demiplies.html">demi-plies</a> correlates with scores given by a qualified instructor from the Royal Academy of Dance. </li>
</ul>
<p>So while the using sensors to monitor training is possible and soon to be widely available for athletes to use, extreme training and variations in training immediately before a major event are not recommended. </p>
<p>The potential for injury is high and the consequences for an athlete can be devastating – as those missing out on the Commonwealth Games know only too well.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29544/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Thiel works for Griffith University and has received funding from the Queensland Academy of sport, the Australian Institute of Sport and the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>As the 2014 Commonwealth Games began in Glasgow last week, a number of potential medal winners could only watch the events unfold as they were sidelined by injuries incurred at training. Aussie track star…David Thiel, Professor of Engineering & Deputy Head of School (Research), Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/297492014-07-28T06:41:00Z2014-07-28T06:41:00ZA Scottish spectacle of sport and politics: the view from Australia<p>Sport mega events such as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/glasgow-2014">Commonwealth Games</a> are <a href="http://business-school.exeter.ac.uk/module/?mod_code=BEM3042">routinely</a> <a href="http://ahd1113.activehost.com/pdf/61195.pdf">described</a> as <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1002/9781118325261.part5/asset/part5.pdf?v=1&t=hy57431n&s=e6bd471e48f691a199f5ddfb9305ad32382a590b">global spectacles</a>, but they always focus intensively on one part of the globe for a short period. </p>
<p>For the hosts, this is the essence of their appeal and justification for all the expense, trouble and risk: the “whole world is watching”, the value of the publicity is priceless, and it is hoped that all that media interest can be translated into long-term tourism profile and return on investment.</p>
<p>Scotland is the latest country to take the mega event bait – in this case snagging a big sports party out of the remnants of an Empire that somehow reinvented itself as a Family. </p>
<p>Sport has played no small role in the symbolic survival of a time when red blotched much of the world map, overshadowing even Hollywood as a cultural force spreading out from the West. </p>
<p>How ironic, then, that Glasgow should convene the old Empire at play at just the moment that Scotland is considering a vote to dissolve the Union. Perhaps when the Games are next held on Australia’s Gold Coast in 2018, the host of 2014 will not qualify or wish to compete. </p>
<p>The Scottish National Party sees a successful Commonwealth Games as usefully presaging an ascendant independent Scotland. If London could do it in 2012 with the Olympics, then so could Glasgow, with the useful disaggregation of Olympic Team GB now allowing the Commonwealth’s Team Scotland to shine. </p>
<p>Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond urged support for “<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scottish-independence/10983781/Alex-Salmond-pledges-unpolitical-Commonwealth-Games-then-attacks-George-Osborne.html">Scolympians</a>” such as Andy Murray and Chris Hoy in 2012, but has artfully declared a “<a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/referendum-news/salmond-i-believe-glasgow-will-be-freedom-city-in-indyref.1406130040">self-denying ordinance</a>” of eschewing duels with anti-independence opponents for the duration of the Games – the Commonwealth equivalent of the Olympic Truce. </p>
<p>The city itself is also keen to avoid becoming embroiled in Scottish independence politics because it isn’t very good for the immediate business of holding a feel-good event at which many participants and spectators would probably mistake Holyrood for a postmodern castle rather than a working parliament. </p>
<h2>But is it worth it?</h2>
<p>Is Glasgow getting a global bang for its locally minted quid? A scan of Australian media in the lead up to the Games would suggest not. </p>
<p>For a long time coverage of the Games was sparse, let alone stories concerning the host city. Most stories have focused on individual Australian athletes and their pathways to selection, or on Australian teams and their aspirations regarding the Games. This is an unsurprising empirical observation for sport event watchers. </p>
<p>In the absence of a major political issue (such as the human rights protests leading up to the Beijing 2008 Olympics), the principal focus of national media is inevitably on the nation’s sporting prospects. </p>
<p>It is for this reason that for some time there were more Australian stories about the push for inclusion by rugby league or complaints about the <a href="http://theconversation.com/why-are-the-australian-commonwealth-games-uniforms-so-bad-27690">Australian team uniform</a> than about the appeals of Glaswegian life. </p>
<p>One story focused on Glasgow that did cut through was the (ultimately aborted) plan to incorporate the demolition of the Red Road high-rise public housing buildings within the Opening Ceremony in order to symbolise the <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/more-sports/glasgow-commonwealth-games-organisers-opt-for-bizarre-combination-of-opening-ceremony-and-urban-renewal/story-fnii0hmo-1226874308108">urban regeneration</a> of east Glasgow. </p>
<p>This bold but flawed pre-emptive move was designed to address Glasgow’s image problem – patently inaccurate for those who have been there – as an unremittingly tough, depressed and depressing town.</p>
<p>When designated as 1990’s European City of Culture, Glasgow was the <a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/bloggers/one-singer-one-song.2012054929">butt of many jokes</a> that could only work through an assumed incongruity. </p>
<p>Come 2014, Australian journalists such as Peter FitzSimons were re-circulating such <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/fifa-world-cup-2014/australia-2014/socceroos-would-be-wise-to-think-outside-the-box-to-beat-the-odds-20140618-zsdgq.html">internet jokes</a> during the Brazil World Cup as</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I just can’t get excited about a sporting event where a government has spent millions funding it, yet people still live in squalor and deprivation. Where drugs are rife and life expectation is very low. But enough of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow …</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Small wonder, therefore, that much of the media coverage of Glasgow as the setting for the Commonwealth Games has involved <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/travel/glasgow-scotland-melancholic-melodies-20140604-39i3m.html#ixzz34IriHENo">tourist promotion</a> through <a href="http://www.news.com.au/travel/world-travel/glasgow-gears-up-for-the-2014-commonwealth-games/story-e6frfqbr-1226698038296">sponsored travel stories</a> in which the writer’s visit was facilitated by the likes of Visit Britain, British Airways and the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau.</p>
<p>Beyond travel journalism, Glasgow only really came into focus in Australia when its national team arrived there, along with the posse of journalists who could cover the sport and write “colour pieces” during the downtimes. </p>
<p>Interpreting the <a href="https://theconversation.com/was-the-commonwealth-games-opening-ceremony-any-good-29676">Opening Ceremony</a> is always a reliable kickstarter – and in this case also interpreting the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/commonwealth-games-glasgow-2014/commonwealth-games-news/glasgow-games-volunteers-are-a-top-bunch--what-a-shame-they-cant-actually-unintelligible-20140725-3ckwu.html">broad Glaswegian brogue</a> of Games volunteers.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CfBOlMfsfck?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">… or playing up Scottish accents in the Opening Ceremony.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Will Glasgow’s “<a href="http://www.news.com.au/sport/commonwealth-games/opening-ceremony-of-commonwealth-games-in-glasgow-live-coverage/story-fnnx3zsr-1226999342702">weird, wacky and spectacular</a> opening ceremony” and the ensuing sport and street action mean that, in the words of the city’s <a href="http://peoplemakeglasgow.com/what's-on/glasgow-2014/#sthash.MTBUIXjA.dpuf">Marketing Bureau</a> “the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games will be an unforgettable celebration of sport and culture, leaving a lasting legacy for athletes, young people, businesses and communities”?</p>
<p>That is every mega sport event’s aspiration – and for most it is as elusive as the craved attention from international media (like Australia’s) who remain resolutely fixated on their own nation’s athletes for the delectation of the folk back home.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29749/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Rowe currently receives funding from the Australian Research Council for the Discovery Project 'A Nation of "Good Sports"? Cultural Citizenship and Sport in Contemporary Australia' (DP130104502).</span></em></p>Sport mega events such as the Commonwealth Games are routinely described as global spectacles, but they always focus intensively on one part of the globe for a short period. For the hosts, this is the…David Rowe, Professor of Cultural Research, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/295892014-07-27T20:23:06Z2014-07-27T20:23:06ZIntegration not segregation: para-sports at the Glasgow Games<p>Australian athletes at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/glasgow-2014">Commonwealth Games</a> won a stack of medals over the weekend, bringing the nation to the top of the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/commonwealth-games/2014/medals/countries/australia#australia">medal tally</a>. Of the Aussie medal winners, para-swimmer <a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/daniel-fox">Daniel Fox</a> took gold in the 200m freestyle (where he also broke his own world record in the heats) and para-cycling pair <a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/kieran-modra">Kieran Modra</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/jlniblett">Jason Niblett</a> were edged out of first place by Scotland in the sprint B tandem.</p>
<p>But para-sports haven’t always been part of the Commonwealth Games <a href="http://www.glasgow2014.com/document/competition-schedule">schedule</a>. In fact, this is just the fourth Commonwealth Games that para-sport competitors have been included.</p>
<p>The para-sport athletes at these Games are not just athletes with physical disability, but also those with vision impairment, amputees and those with cerebral palsy, head injury or stroke.</p>
<p>And like athletes that compete at the Paralympics, those at the Commonwealth Games are elite performers who have gone through rigorous selection criteria to make the team – they are the best of their classes.</p>
<p>The calibre of para-sport athletes present at the Commonwealth games include the wheelchair racer <a href="http://kurtfearnley.com/">Kurt Fearnley</a> who is probably the best known Paralympic athlete in Australia.</p>
<p>He will be competing in the Men’s 1,500m T54 wheelchair race tomorrow (with the final held on Thursday), although he’s better known for his efforts racing in wheelchair marathon events at the Paralympics and cities around the world.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Wy_3-lBu5FU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Fearnley in 2006, on his way to his first of four victories in the New York Marathon, wheelchair division.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But what many people don’t know is that from as early as the 1970s, the Commonwealth Games began to conceptualise the bringing together of para-sports as part of an integrated Commonwealth Games sport program.</p>
<h2>Para-sporting Commonwealth history</h2>
<p>The first demonstration para-sport events were held at the <a href="http://www.thecgf.com/games/intro.asp?yr=1994">1994 Commonwealth Games</a> in Victoria, British Columbia. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.thecgf.com/games/intro.asp?yr=2002">Manchester 2002</a> became the first Commonwealth Games to fully integrate athletes with disabilities in the sport program. </p>
<p>In the Manchester 2002 program there were 10 full medal events across five para-sports including athletics, lawn bowls, swimming, table tennis and weightlifting, and the number of para-sport events integrated within the Commonwealth Games program has only increased since.</p>
<p>Australia played its part in the development of para-sports at the <a href="http://www.melbourne2006.com.au/Channels/">Melbourne 2006</a> Commonwealth Games with 12 full medal events competed for by 189 athletes from 25 nations in athletics, swimming, table tennis and powerlifting.</p>
<p>By <a href="http://www.thecgf.com/games/intro.asp?yr=2010">Delhi 2010</a> there were 15 full medal events in athletics, lawn bowls, powerlifting and swimming.</p>
<p>In Glasgow there are five para-sports on the program involving athletics, swimming, powerlifting, lawn bowls and, for the first time, track cycling. Australian pairing <a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/brandie-oconnor">Brandie O'Connor</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/BreeHargrave">Breanna Hargrave</a> won bronze in the para-cycling debut last week.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54873/original/fqkdvds9-1406265589.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54873/original/fqkdvds9-1406265589.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54873/original/fqkdvds9-1406265589.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=734&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54873/original/fqkdvds9-1406265589.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=734&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54873/original/fqkdvds9-1406265589.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=734&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54873/original/fqkdvds9-1406265589.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=923&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54873/original/fqkdvds9-1406265589.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=923&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54873/original/fqkdvds9-1406265589.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=923&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Table tennis player Melissa Tapper as born with Erbs Palsy, but will compete against able-bodied opponents in Glasgow.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Paralympic Committee/Australian Sports Commission</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Athletes will be competing for a total of 22 medals across the five sports, which is a modest number of medals compared to the overall program of 261 medal events on offer.</p>
<p>Yet, unlike the demonstration disability sport events held within the Olympic Games program, all para-sports events medals have always counted towards the medal tally for national teams.</p>
<p>To fully understand which events and which disabilities are represented one must navigate the very confusing Paralympic classification system.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-classification-at-the-paralympics-9072">Paralympic classification system</a> is based on disability type:</p>
<ul>
<li>amputee</li>
<li>cerebral palsy</li>
<li>intellectual disability</li>
<li>vision impaired</li>
<li>wheelchair</li>
<li>les autres (literally “the other”).</li>
</ul>
<p>Also, depending upon the disability type, there’s an assessment of their physical, vision or intellectual impairment based on ten classifications:</p>
<ul>
<li>reduced muscle power</li>
<li>passive range of movement</li>
<li>loss of limb or limb-deficiency</li>
<li>leg-length difference</li>
<li>short stature</li>
<li>hypertonia (abnormal increase in muscle tension)</li>
<li>ataxia (lack of co-ordination of muscle movements)</li>
<li>athetosis (unbalanced, involuntary movements)</li>
<li>visual</li>
<li>intellectual</li>
</ul>
<p>However, while the classification system is complex, medically-based and (amongst para-sport athletes and officials) contentious, all you have to do as a spectator is focus on the tremendous competition that the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/superhip-to-supercrip-the-trickle-down-effect-of-the-paralympics-9009">super-crip</a>” athletes provide and enjoy what they do best.</p>
<p>So what’s in store for the rest of these Commonwealth Games? </p>
<p>The para-sport schedule continues to the end of the Games, and if you’re keen on watching the incredible speed, agility and strength of para-sport athletes, here are the remaining event times (in AEST):<br></p>
<p><strong>Monday, 28 July</strong> <br>
<strong>Swimming</strong><br>
05:37-05:42 (Tuesday): Men’s SM8 200m IM (S7 eligible)<br>
<strong>Athletics</strong><br>
08:00-09:05: Men’s F42/44 discus<br>
06:00-06:05 (Tuesday): Women’s T12 100m<br>
06:40-06:45 (Tuesday): Men’s T37 100m<br></p>
<p><strong>Tuesday, 29 July</strong><br>
<strong>Swimming</strong><br>
06:03-06:10 (Wednesday): Women’s SM10 200m IM (SM9 eligible)</p>
<p><strong>Thursday, 31 July</strong><br>
<strong>Athletics</strong><br>
05:20-05:35 (Friday): Women’s T54 1500m<br>
05:35-05:40 (Friday): Men’s T54 1500m<br>
<strong>Lawn Bowls</strong><br>
18:45-11:45: Open triples (B6/B7/B8) - physical impairment<br></p>
<p><strong>Saturday, 2 August</strong> <br>
<strong>Powerlifting</strong><br>
20:00-22:00: Women’s lightweight (up to 61kg)<br>
20:00-22:00: Women’s heavyweight (from 61.01kg)<br>
00:00-06:00 (Sunday): Men’s lightweight (up to 72kg)<br>
04:00-08:00 (Sunday): Men’s heavyweight (from 71.01kg)<br></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29589/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Darcy in 2009 and 2010 received research grants from the Australian Sports Commission and the Australian Paralympic Committee.</span></em></p>Australian athletes at the Commonwealth Games won a stack of medals over the weekend, bringing the nation to the top of the medal tally. Of the Aussie medal winners, para-swimmer Daniel Fox took gold in…Simon Darcy, Professor & Co-Director Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Research Centre - UTS Business School, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/297222014-07-26T09:12:43Z2014-07-26T09:12:43ZWhy isn’t tennis part of the Commonwealth Games?<p>Among those of us that follow the internal workings of the Commonwealth Games, eyebrows were raised when tennis was not included in the list of sports for Glasgow 2014. </p>
<p>Scotland has of course got great strength in tennis in the form of Andy Murray, Jamie Murray and Colin Fleming. If Glasgow was choosing which sports to include on the basis of what was likely to win Scotland the most medals, you might not have thought they would left tennis off the list. </p>
<p>Commonwealth Games host nations have to offer 17 sports, which are chosen from two separate lists – a core list and an options list. The 10 core sports are swimming, athletics, badminton, men’s boxing, hockey, women’s netball, lawn bowls, men’s rugby sevens, squash and weightlifting. </p>
<p>Glasgow 2014 represents the first time that the core list has been this large. For some of the previous events it was five, namely swimming, athletics, lawn bowls, rugby sevens and netball. To some extent this harks back to the days of the precursor 1911 Inter Empire Games, which consisted of four sports (athletics, swimming, boxing and wrestling) and nine events. The same sports plus rowing were competed for in 1930, when the first official event was renamed the British Empire Games (and held in Hamilton, Canada – after several more name changes, it became the Commonwealth Games in 1978).</p>
<p>Beyond the core sports, the options list includes <a href="http://topendsports.com/events/commonwealth-games/sports/index.htm">18 possibilities</a> which range from archery to cycling to table tennis to taekwondo. Some such as billiards have never yet been chosen. Glasgow’s seven are cycling, gymnastics, judo, shooting, table tennis, triathlon and wrestling. As well as tennis, the federations for synchronised swimming and ten-pin bowling had to accept rejection too. </p>
<p>The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) approves which sports make the two lists, which have had to expand over the years as the number of sports has increased. Where it was six in 1930, it reached 10 in 1978 before finally reaching the current 17 in Manchester 2002. Only three sports have been ever-present: athletics, boxing and swimming.</p>
<h2>The sports dogfight</h2>
<p>The Commonwealth Games might only be considered the second or third most important general sports event for competing countries (always behind the Olympics, and behind the Winter Olympics for some too). But for the sports federations seeking to push their particular sport, making sure they are on at least the optional list and eventually the core list will be one of their top priorities. </p>
<p>Two things have made the battle for inclusion more intense in recent years. First is the fact that the games’ popularity has waned, meaning that the case for change has grown stronger, particularly towards sports that will convert into TV rights in a good number of countries. </p>
<p>Second is that the balance of power between countries has been shifting, tilting towards those in Asia in particular, which had not even hosted a games until Kuala Lumpur in 1998 (and Africa still has not). This power shift has strengthened the argument for including sports that are more popular in the East or the Pan-Asian Games. The new CGF President is from Malaysia. </p>
<p>Kuala Lumpur represented the first major attempt to modernise the games, with a decision by the CGF to include team sports for the first time. This meant the arrival of cricket, hockey, women’s netball and men’s rugby sevens. Basketball was added for Melbourne 2006 (four team sports in total is currently the maximum permitted). </p>
<p>New Delhi was permitted to showcase kabaddi, a form of Indian wrestling, as a demonstration sport in 2010 and tennis was present in the 2010 Commonwealth Games. </p>
<h2>The big three</h2>
<p>Change still looks to be in the early stages, however. It is worth bearing in mind from the medal tables that in 91 years the same countries have dominated the top three positions (Australia, England and Canada). Certainly this does not reflect diversity, equality, development or indeed progress. Australia has topped the medal table in every games since 1990. The leading countries have hosted every games except Jamaica (1966), Kuala Lumpur (1998) and New Delhi (2010). And incidentally, all of the seven chairman/presidents of the CGF since 1930 have been men. </p>
<p>It is also worth pointing out that as well as the choice of sports, the individual sports federations have a hand in who competes because they set the qualifying standards for their sports. This is one reason why, looking at the Glasgow opening ceremony, Australia, Canada and England had larger teams than most of the other 71 nations and territories. Scotland’s team is its largest yet and comparable in size and range of sports covered. </p>
<p>As the CGF continues to wrestle with modernising the event, more change looks likely. Pointing the way might be an <a href="http://www.fioga.co.fk/files/GMS%20CGF%20Workshop%20-%20Research%20Presentation.pdf">independent report</a> from 2011 written on behalf of the CGF by the Australian consultancy Global Media and Sports. </p>
<p>The report acknowledges the declining popularity of the games and recommends some key changes, namely adding cycling, 20-20 cricket and triathlon to the core list in place of squash and lawn bowls, which would both become optional. There would then be an optional list of 11 and a new list of eight “less important” sports, which could also be chosen but in smaller proportions. </p>
<p>The report proposes to replace beach volleyball on the optional list with volleyball. Archery, canoeing, sailing, softball and ten-pin bowling have all been downgraded to less important. New arrivals (all on the less important list) are horse events, rugby league nines and football. Football is not given a higher billing for fear that it wouldn’t attract the stars, which has been an issue for Glasgow, most recently with Mo Farah’s withdrawal. The proposals have not yet been adopted, but we can be certain that the CGF will be thinking about them. </p>
<h2>As for Andy Murray…</h2>
<p>That glimpse of a possible future returns us to Glasgow and its tennis decision. There is certainly no bar to countries choosing sports that suit them. That was one reason why India had cricket on the programme in 2010, not to mention shooting and wrestling (and India collected the second-highest medal haul at its games – after Australia). </p>
<p>In mitigation to Glasgow, it had to make its decision on the sports offering seven years ago. While the Indians could reckon relatively far in advance that they would still be producing cricketers, Scotland’s current tennis stars were less advanced in their careers in 2007. Nonetheless, world tennis organisers <a href="http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-23647343.html">let it be known</a> at the time that they thought Glasgow was opting out of tennis because it was not a universally popular enough sport to secure the backing of enough CGF members. This tells you something about Commonwealth Games realpolitik for a smallish country like Scotland in the modern era. </p>
<p>On the other hand, Scotland is well on the way to beating its highest ever haul of 33 (from Edinburgh 1986). Omitting tennis might not make any difference one way or the other. Scottish sport is in a good place and Scottish administrators are in positions of influence within the Commonwealth. </p>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29722/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grant receives funding from UK research councils and both Scottish and UK governments. He is affiliated with Sportscotland. He is fully employed by the University of Edinburgh. This article is written in his capacity as Chair of Sport at the University of Edinburgh where he leads Edinburgh Sports Research.</span></em></p>Among those of us that follow the internal workings of the Commonwealth Games, eyebrows were raised when tennis was not included in the list of sports for Glasgow 2014. Scotland has of course got great…Grant Jarvie, Chair of Sport, The University of EdinburghLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/293392014-07-25T04:15:27Z2014-07-25T04:15:27ZHow athletes such as Eamon Sullivan cope with retirement<p>As the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/glasgow-2014">Commonwealth Games</a> enters its last days, Australian sprinter <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/john-steffenson-to-bow-out-of-athletics-quietly-after-commonwealth-games/story-fni2u98u-1227002388624">John Steffenson</a> announced he’s hanging up the spikes after the tournament is over, and diver Matthew Mitcham <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/commonwealth-games-glasgow-2014/commonwealth-games-news/matthew-mitcham-may-retire-after-commonwealth-games-20140722-zvije.html">hinted</a> at retiring too.</p>
<p>Before the Games even began Australian swimmer <a href="http://london2012.olympics.com.au/athlete/eamon-sullivan">Eamon Sullivan</a>, after three Olympic medals and numerous Pan Pacific, Commonwealth and World Championship titles, <a href="http://corporate.olympics.com.au/news/eamon-sullivan-retires-from-competitive-swimming">announced his retirement</a> due to an ongoing shoulder injury:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In the end my body has let me down, so I’m very disappointed, but it’s the right time.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>They now move into “retirement” from competitive sport. So how can they make sure the transition is an easy – and healthy – one?</p>
<p>During retirement, an athlete is forced to transition to life after sport. Sometimes athletes can choose when they hang up their boots (or goggles), but often they are forced into retirement due to injury or age.</p>
<p>As a result this may potentially affect their wellbeing. In addition, athlete involuntary retirement can elicit psychological and emotional difficulties including: </p>
<ul>
<li>decreased self-confidence</li>
<li>more frequent feelings of anger, anxiety and depression</li>
<li>substance abuse.</li>
</ul>
<p>So how can elite athletes keep themselves psychologically healthy after their competition days are over?</p>
<h2>Sustaining a sense of self</h2>
<p>Waking to the alarm at 4:30am, being on the pool deck by 5am, following that monotonous black line up and down the pool, swimming up to eight kilometres per session, heading off to school/work and then doing it all over again after hours is a way of life for most swimmers. </p>
<p>For 10 years, my day ran in this format. Many asked why I did it. My response was simple – I loved the sport and the social network that the sport provided. </p>
<p>I did not reach the pinnacle of my sport – State and National Championships were the highlights of my swimming career – so my transition to “real life” was not as daunting as it may be for most elite athletes. </p>
<p>But for those who have been the best or near the top of their field for decades, a transition can provide an opportunity for psychological growth as well as a danger for psychological deterioration.</p>
<p>While an athlete’s dedication to sport often leads to a strong athletic identity, which can have <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1469029202000468">positive <em>and</em> negative consequences</a>, they also risk experiencing difficulties after their sports career. </p>
<p>The loss of the athlete role after retirement may potentially not only affect their athletic identity, but also their <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10811449908409723">overall sense of self</a>.</p>
<p>Assisting athletes cope with career transition is one of the most commonly encountered issues for applied sport psychologists and the quality of adaptation to post sport life is significantly determined by an <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10413209408406462">athlete’s degree of voluntariness</a>. </p>
<h2>Coping and in control</h2>
<p>Reasons for career termination appear to play a significant role for adjustment to post-career life. </p>
<p>Potentially, athletes who are unable to continue elite sport due to performance decrements (such as age, injury or deselection) are forced into retirement due to circumstances that are out of their control. </p>
<p>Involuntary retirement may have <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1992-29476-001">complicating consequences</a> for the adjustment process, but a subjective feeling of control seems to facilitate the transition to post-career life. </p>
<p>The perception of control fosters mental health, successful development and heightens feelings of <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.displayRecord&UID=1997-08589-000">self-efficacy</a>.</p>
<p>Recently it’s been shown that better educated athletes have more professional knowledge and more occupational opportunities, so experience <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.displayRecord&UID=1996-06362-004">fewer occupation-related difficulties</a> during their post-sports career life.</p>
<p>To assist with the career transition process, it’s recommended that strategies such as post career planning (continual education, occupational endeavours and activities related to athletes’ social network) be implemented. </p>
<p>It is also important to assist athletes with interventions that provide subjective control over the retirement process. </p>
<p>A “readiness for transition” plan needs to identify short- and long-term planning, resources to cope effectively with transition barriers (such as being injured), job and vocational training and social support networks. </p>
<p>By maintaining a strong support system without feeling as though the factors surrounding their retirement are out of their control, athletes can have a very rewarding and fulfilling transition to a life without competition.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29339/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mandy Ruddock-Hudson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the Commonwealth Games enters its last days, Australian sprinter John Steffenson announced he’s hanging up the spikes after the tournament is over, and diver Matthew Mitcham hinted at retiring too…Mandy Ruddock-Hudson, Lecturer in the Centre for Sport & Social Impact, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/296822014-07-24T17:55:56Z2014-07-24T17:55:56ZCommonwealth Games Mandela tribute overlooks a mixed record on apartheid<p>At different times ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, various politicians called for politics to be kept out of the event. This didn’t prevent the organisers paying tribute to Glasgow’s part in the Free Mandela movement in the 1980s at the opening ceremony. </p>
<p>Given the way that both elite and grassroots sport is funded and provided for, it is always extremely political. This is even before one discusses sport and identity, a subject that has come up at the games many times before. </p>
<p>This is the third time Scotland has hosted the event, having previously held them in Edinburgh in 1970 and 1986. As the games had its origins in the British Empire Games, the competition accordingly reflects the UK’s – and Scotland’s – relationships with empire and decolonisation.</p>
<h2>Olympic protests</h2>
<p>South Africa’s system of apartheid ensured that it was banned from appearing at the Olympics and World Cup from the 1960s until apartheid ended in the early 1990s. The 1976 Olympics in Montreal was boycotted by 25 African nations after the IOC failed to ban New Zealand, which had recently allowed the South African rugby team to play in the country.</p>
<p>The Olympics survived, and went on to navigate two major Cold War boycotts in 1980 and 1984. It would also have survived the mooted but somewhat piecemeal Sochi 2014 boycott in relation to Russia’s treatment its LGBT citizens. </p>
<p>South Africa left the Commonwealth in 1961, so there was no question of the nation appearing at the games. But the Commonwealth Games became a protest forum for member countries in the 1970s and 1980s against the fact that South Africa had admirers within the conservative political and sporting establishments of the empire’s white dominions. They continually invited South Africa’s rugby and cricket sides to give tours of their countries.</p>
<h2>Not cricket</h2>
<p>After the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) invited the country’s cricket team for a tour of England in the summer of 1970, a comprehensive boycott was inevitable for Edinburgh’s games that same summer. The <a href="http://africanactivist.msu.edu/organization.php?name=South+African+Non-Racial+Olympic+Committee">South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee</a> called on Britain’s former imperial dominions not to attend the games if the tour went through – which they duly threatened to do. </p>
<p>Initially games organiser Herbert Brechin, a former lord provost of Edinburgh, accused the nations of blackmail and stated that the games would go on without them. In private, the games’ executive board confronted him on his comments, believing that a boycott would bring financial ruin. Almost immediately, his comments on the matter became more conciliatory. What actually saved the games, however, was largely the Labour government of Harold Wilson putting heavy pressure on the MCC to cancel the tour. </p>
<p>Yet the ongoing support for South Africa within the former imperial white dominions ensured that the Commonwealth Games would continue to be subject to boycott threats. Nigeria refused to attend the 1978 games in Vancouver, for example.</p>
<p>Margaret Thatcher took a different line on South Africa. She believed in trading with the country, in direct contravention of the “boycott, divestment, sanctions” programme called for by the anti-apartheid community. When the authorities allowed a South African rugby tour in 1984, moves began within the Commonwealth Games Federation to ban England. In the end this fell apart because protesters could not secure enough votes in the federation to make a ban go ahead. </p>
<p>But then came the case of white South African long-distance runner Zola Budd. The 1984 Great Britain Olympic team provocatively included her in its line-up, a controversial addition championed by sections of Britain’s right-wing press. The inclusion of Budd, with very tenuous family connections to Britain, subverted South Africa’s international sporting ban. And, when she was included in the 1986 England team along with Annette Cowley, a South African-born swimmer, the threats increased. </p>
<p>The timing of the Games took place at a critical juncture: the African National Congress had recently stepped up its guerrilla campaign against the government of South African president PJ Botha, and the games were scheduled to take place just before the next meeting of Commonwealth nations. African, Asian, and Caribbean nations were keen to make an example of the Thatcher government, and one by one they pulled out of the Edinburgh games.</p>
<h2>The Edinburgh conflict</h2>
<p>Edinburgh’s left-wing district council wanted to show its commitment to ending apartheid. An all-out boycott would prove tough, so it turned towards non-cooperation. The city had already confronted these issues when Budd had come to race at the <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vrUvXR5T5ZwC&pg=PA149&lpg=PA149&dq=Dairy+Crest+Edinburgh+Games+1985&source=bl&ots=UAjNltSQwA&sig=AyWMApZX6BiiZGq44MczRlg_IFk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=9S3RU7eGIqqw7Ab75oHgBQ&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Dairy%20Crest%20Edinburgh%20Games%201985&f=false">Dairy Crest Edinburgh Games</a> at the city’s Meadowbank stadium on July 23 1985. On that occasion, the council had unfurled a banner that read, “Edinburgh – Against Apartheid”. This was construed as political advertising. The event, which was due to be aired live on Channel 4, had its television transmission cut just before it went to air. </p>
<p>As the chaotic 1986 Games lurched from one crisis to another, Thatcher was invited to the city by the organisers. She became the district council’s primary target, and it ordered her to keep out of Edinburgh. This proved impossible, but Labour councillors nevertheless joined members of the Anti-Apartheid Movement in a picket line at Meadowbank stadium and the athletes’ village. Council leader (now a Labour MP) Mark Lazarowicz stated: “We don’t want to have in our city a woman whose support for Botha means that she… has the blood of suffering people on her hands.” </p>
<p>Once past the cordons, Thatcher fared no better. A tour of the athletes’ village resulted in the PM being grilled by English rower Joanna Toch over her government’s recommendations six years’ earlier that athletes boycott the 1980 Olympics over the Cold War. Canadian high jumper Nathaniel Brooks accused Thatcher of embarrassing herself by coming to Edinburgh, stating: “There is no atmosphere in the village and I believe she must take the blame for a lot of that.”</p>
<p>Scottish sport’s relationship with the South African question did not end in 1986. It’s easy enough to craft Scottish narratives of resistance to apartheid, which came to the surface for example during last night’s opening ceremony for Glasgow 2014 with the talk of that city’s support for Nelson Mandela’s liberation in the 1980s. </p>
<p>There was no mention of the fact that in 1989, the Scottish Rugby Union also invited South Africa’s team to the country. Those days of political boycotts have gone for the time being, but there is a a paradox about this year’s games all the same. In a year where Scotland holds a referendum on its place in the UK, a lot of work has gone into a sporting tournament that coyly acknowledges its place in the empire.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29682/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>At different times ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, various politicians called for politics to be kept out of the event. This didn’t prevent the organisers paying tribute to Glasgow’s part in the…Matthew McDowell, Lecturer in Sport and Recreation Management, The University of EdinburghFiona Skillen, Lecturer in Sport and Events, Glasgow Caledonian UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/296762014-07-24T15:39:27Z2014-07-24T15:39:27ZWas the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony any good?<p><em>From John Barrowman’s Scottish accent to Susan Boyle’s nervous take of Mull of Kintyre to the cheered tribute to Nelson Mandela, the Commonwealth Games gave us an opening ceremony to remember. And that’s before anyone mentions <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/john-barrowman-praised-for-commonwealth-games-opening-ceremony-gay-kiss-9624782.html">that kiss</a>. We asked events specialist Joe Goldblatt and Simon Pia, veteran of Scottish journalism, what it all meant.</em> </p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Simon Pia, Lecturer in Journalism, Edinburgh Napier University</strong></p>
<p>The kiss that went round the Commonwealth was surprisingly perhaps the least contentious part of an opening ceremony of what are going to be –- no matter what anyone says – a highly politicised Glasgow Games.</p>
<p>John Barrowman’s embrace with a male dancer during an opening stage that turned Celtic Park into something akin to Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory was a bold, politically correct message that no one in what is still the UK was going to take issue with. How other parts of the Commonwealth, such as Uganda, felt about it is another matter. </p>
<p>But within minutes of the ceremony starting, social media, the litmus test for the zeitgeist, was already dividing along political lines. Nationalists and independence campaigners were cringing behind the sofa at home tweeting abuse about Barrowman -– a high profile unionist -– and what they saw as a naff rather than kitsch extravaganza coming in at over £20m. </p>
<p>Surrealism-sur-Clyde, at times, as giant tea-cakes and sugary soft drinks twirled around a statue of the Duke of Wellington with a traffic cone on his head. Glasgow got it as did the rest of Scotland, but elsewhere? <a href="http://www.renemagritte.org">Rene Magritte</a> was not un Ecossais, n’est pas?</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54811/original/cmtvqsn7-1406210493.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54811/original/cmtvqsn7-1406210493.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54811/original/cmtvqsn7-1406210493.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54811/original/cmtvqsn7-1406210493.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54811/original/cmtvqsn7-1406210493.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54811/original/cmtvqsn7-1406210493.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54811/original/cmtvqsn7-1406210493.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54811/original/cmtvqsn7-1406210493.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Duke of Wellington, complete with traffic cone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/citizenm/4726833425/in/photolist-8cGfU2-8cKzaW-igaNy-Gokqp-a1LxDX-a1LxR4-cHv9dS-dVy5uR-dVy8on-7JyCUJ-9Qg4rj-dqaRJM-821bor-821bon-81N2Qq-2t5E8L-9Y2uYC-78RMSD-9XYzDp-fZE9YW-8hrtL5-6jnA7w-addknL-8DStTB-8F4cNk-eaWedk">CitizenM Hotels</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But what Glasgow did was very Scottish. Knowing it couldn’t compete with Danny Boyle’s Olympics, or even perhaps afraid to, it decided to do what it does best –- take the piss out of itself. </p>
<p>Some got the joke while others, particularly nationalists, didn’t. Or maybe it just wasn’t a very funny one. But Scotland taking itself seriously is essential to the nationalist mindset, particularly at this time in its history. Glasgow didn’t and this was seen as a slap in the face. </p>
<p>A sombre first minister pointedly referred to Scotland rather than Glasgow in his short speech, breaking the protocol of games etiquette which should be all about the host city. But Alex Salmond has never been known to miss an opportunity to make his point or wave his saltire, regardless of the circumstances. </p>
<p>But the whimsy of Glasgow’s approach opened up the metaphysical dilemma at the heart of the independence debate and Scotland’s existential angst over its identity. Social media was awash with the ceremony reflecting what an independent Scotland would look like –- a naff little place that is a bit of an embarrassment.</p>
<p>The paranoid wing of the nationalist camp, which is substantial, saw it as a unionist plot whereas the more measured in their ranks reckoned such pap can only be expected as the product of an infantalised people under an imperial yoke.</p>
<p>Meanwhile the Better Together campaign was hailing it as a feel-good success as God Save the Queen reverberated around that republican heartland of Scotland, Celtic Park; and the Red Arrows flew overhead billowing red, white and blue streams across the summer night sky.</p>
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<p>The mainstream Scottish media gave it the thumbs up on its front-page splashes as did leading TV and radio bulletins. The media wants the games to succeed. Some of the more discerning elements, aka the awkward squad such as the critics, were less enthusiastic in their reviews, some even scathing.</p>
<p>But all this misses what opening ceremonies are about. They are eminently forgettable and by their very nature naff and tediously boring. The 2012 Olympic ceremony was an anomaly. </p>
<p>The Glasgow gig was pawky, cheeky, lively, corny, naff and compulsive as it just avoided turning into a complete car crash let alone a turning point in the referendum.</p>
<p><strong>Joe Goldblatt, Professor of Planned Events at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh</strong></p>
<p>Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but when one billion people throughout the world behold an opening ceremony such as the one staged to open the 20th Commonwealth Games in Glasgow yesterday, the controversy often reaches a fever pitch.</p>
<p>It is important to place these events in a historical perspective. The majority of public events are funded by taxpayers, so millions of people have a vested interest in their content and legacy. The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4As0e4de-rI">London 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony’s</a> budget was estimated at £65m. Some taxpayers would ask, and rightly so, how many new hospitals and schools could be constructed with this level of funding? In contrast, the budget for the opening and closing ceremonies in Glasgow <a href="http://www.glasgow2014.com/media-centre/press-releases/global-events-team-ready-create-and-deliver-glasgow-2014-opening-and">is £14m</a>. </p>
<p>Opening ceremonies are not just about using bread and circuses as a means of amusing and even distracting the public. These events do provide escapism from the mundane and even from serious catastrophes of the day, including the Malaysia Airlines crash in the Ukraine, but actually serve a far greater purpose – to tell the story of the host city or nation to the world. This is what leads to their controversy.</p>
<p>In the past, opening ceremonies producers have sought to focus only on the positive aspects of a destination and to provide popular entertainment for the audience both in the stadium and through television. This was certainly true during the London 2012 opening ceremony.</p>
<p>Danny Boyle’s showpiece focused on the historical development of the United Kingdom and paid tribute to key historical milestones such as the development of the industrial age, the NHS and even the internet. It was also criticised for not examining some of the darker chapters in British life, however.</p>
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<p>Glasgow is sometimes described in tourism marketing jargon as being representative of “edge tourism”. This means there is both a dark and light side to the city, both of which are enjoyed by tourists. Glasgow 2014 producer <a href="http://www.scotlandnow.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/commonwealth-games-glaswegians-main-voice-3891812">David Zolkwer</a> largely succeeded in telling this complex story to the world, having made several correct choices along the way. </p>
<p>Above all, the show did not avoid the over-the-top brashness that you would expect of an aspirational city like Glasgow. This included a same-sex kiss at the top of the show to help demonstrate Glasgow’s tolerance and embrace of diversity. At the tail of the show they saluted Nelson Mandela through word and song. This was once again a reminder to the world that while others hesitated, Glasgow stepped boldly forward to be the first to honour this great and good man with its freedom of the city award, even though he was a prisoner and could not accept it until many years later.</p>
<p>Second, for the first time in a mega event they incorporated an opportunity for the worldwide audience to contribute to UNICEF. This dramatically changed the usual focus of opening ceremonies from being one massive party without a purpose to one that could change the world one person and one event at a time. This is highly commendable and will most likely be adopted by most major events in future. Who knows, like many other Scottish inventions it might become known as the “Glasgow effect”.</p>
<p>Finally, although some would question the relevance of the panto approach to some of the Glasgow 2014 segments, it is important to note that Scottish panto has a long and storied tradition in this land. It is therefore a logical way to effectively communicate to the masses the important themes of humanity, generosity, courage and even good humour.</p>
<p>When the role of public events is chronicled, I am convinced that Glasgow 2014 will be remembered as having accurately reflected a city and country that is in great dramatic transition. The producers of the opening ceremony will be remembered, like others before them, for their controversial choices. They will also be remembered in this case, more than any other I have seen, for their bold commitment to using fundraising to create a better world. This is the kind of controversy we need more of in the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29676/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joe is a member of the Scottish Nationalist Party, Academics for YES and the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon is a member of the Labour Party</span></em></p>From John Barrowman’s Scottish accent to Susan Boyle’s nervous take of Mull of Kintyre to the cheered tribute to Nelson Mandela, the Commonwealth Games gave us an opening ceremony to remember. And that’s…Joe Goldblatt, Professor of Planned Events, Queen Margaret UniversitySimon Pia, Lecturer in Journalism, Edinburgh Napier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/292302014-07-24T05:10:49Z2014-07-24T05:10:49ZSprinters, marathon runners, weightlifters and gymnasts – diets for different events<p>Being an athlete is all about eating pasta morning, noon and night, right? Think again. The type of sport an athlete does will affect the types of foods the competitor should eat. Although there are other important nutrients (such as fluid, vitamins and minerals), the three main ones in your diet (known as macronutrients) are carbohydrates, proteins and fats, and these are the ones that sports nutritionists tend to focus on.</p>
<h2>Across the board</h2>
<p>Most athlete diets tend to be low in fat, as eating an excess of fat (or calories) will result in this being stored as fat on the body. This can be a major problem for aesthetic sports, such as gymnastics, but is an issue in most sports, where you don’t want to carry around dead weight.</p>
<p>Carbohydrates are the main energy sources, and are particularly important in endurance events such as triathlons and marathons. Carbohydrate-rich foods include pasta and porridge. In events lasting more than an hour, athletes will <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02640414.2011.619349#.U8U-FI3qfAc">also need to refuel during the event</a>. This is often done with sports drinks or sports supplements, which can be an easy form of fuel for an athlete.</p>
<p>Proteins are important for rebuilding micro-damage to muscles caused by exercise. This is why protein is a key part of the diet in weightlifting. A weightlifter’s diet will consist of low-fat, protein-rich foods such as chicken or egg whites.</p>
<h2>Some major differences</h2>
<p>Even within similar sports there can be major differences in optimum diets for an athlete, which is purely down to the length of the event. One of the best examples of this is athletics, where distances in running can range from the 100m sprint to the 42.19km marathon. As you burn more calories in a longer distance event, the marathon runners will need higher levels of carbohydrate than sprinters. </p>
<p>Marathon runners will probably “carb-load” for the week before the event, where they increase the amount of carbohydrates they eat everyday, at the same time as cutting down the amount of training they’re doing. This balance of energy in and energy out means that they’re able to top up the storage carbohydrate (glycogen) in their muscles and run for longer <a href="http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition/factsheets/competition_and_training/carbohydrate_loading">before they fatigue</a>. </p>
<p>As the 100m sprint is such a short event, it relies more on anaerobic energy systems – those that require <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22417/">less oxygen than the aerobically fuelled marathon</a>. Both will use carbohydrates as the energy source, but as the marathon is longer, it requires a lot more. This means that sprinters might focus on eating less pasta than marathon runners, as pasta can give a large amount of carbohydrates compared to something that usually comes in a smaller portion or with a lower carbohydrate content, such as fruit and vegetables. </p>
<p>Marathon runners will also use stores of body fat more to fuel their longer distances, although this can’t be used without carbohydrate. The body’s stores of glycogen will only fuel <a href="http://www.anitabean.co.uk/books/the-complete-guide-to-sports-nu">90 to 180 minutes of endurance activity</a>, so they will still need to keep topping up their carbohydrate intake during the race if possible.</p>
<p>Eating iron-rich foods such as red meat will also be more important for a marathon runner than a sprinter as it is an essential component of haemoglobin, the protein in blood that transports oxygen around the body. This is especially true for women, who have a higher need for iron anyway, due to their menstrual losses. As such, they’re more prone to the effects of having low iron.</p>
<p>There are some similarities between different distances. For short and long there is a fine balancing act between eating sufficient calories and macronutrients to make sure they have the energy to train and compete, and not eating too many so that they gain body fat. This could have disastrous consequences on performance for an athlete, and increase their time on race day.</p>
<p>It’s important to remember that these are just guidelines. Diet is very much an individual choice, and an athlete will eat what they are comfortable with. Usain Bolt claimed he ate <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/athletics/usain-bolt-reveals-he-devoured-1000-chicken-mcnuggets-during-the-2008-beijing-olympics-8920870.html">up to 100 chicken nuggets a day during the Beijing Olympics</a> – arguably rich in protein, but also full of fat. </p>
<p>Those seeking to emulate Bolt’s lightning speeds, should note that <a href="http://www.livestrong.com/article/456085-a-sprinters-diet/">most of the time</a> he follows a healthier plan of meat, fish, bananas, yams and traditional Jamaican dishes. Maybe he would have recorded even lower times if he stuck with his healthier, lower-fat diet during the Beijing competition. Ultimately, however, it’s a case of what works best for individual athletes. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29230/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ali Hill does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Being an athlete is all about eating pasta morning, noon and night, right? Think again. The type of sport an athlete does will affect the types of foods the competitor should eat. Although there are other…Ali Hill, Senior Lecturer in Nutrition, Solent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/293922014-07-23T20:18:25Z2014-07-23T20:18:25ZTake your marks … the science behind the perfect swimming dive<p>The swimming events of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/glasgow-2014">Glasgow Commonwealth Games</a> are among the first on the <a href="http://www.glasgow2014.com/document/competition-schedule">schedule</a>. Australia and the UK tend to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimming_at_the_Commonwealth_Games#All-time_medal_table">do quite well</a> in the swimming events – as does Canada – so it’s an excellent opportunity to learn a little about the all-important swimming dive start while watching our swimmers compete.</p>
<p>The swimming dive start is highly linked to overall performance during competition. In fact, the start can contribute anywhere between 0.8-26.1% of total race time, depending on race distance.</p>
<p>Obviously, it’s important that elite swimmers get their dive down pat.</p>
<p>The swimming dive start is defined as the time from the starting signal (the gun or beep) to when the centre of the swimmer’s head reaches 15m down the pool. Elite swimmers can typically perform a start between 5.5 and 8s.</p>
<p>The swimming start is broken into three phases:</p>
<ol>
<li>on-block</li>
<li>flight</li>
<li>underwater. </li>
</ol>
<p>The average percentage contribution for each phase of the start for elite swimmers is 11% (0.74s) spent in the on-block phase, 5% (0.30s) in the flight phase, 56% (3.69s) in the underwater phase and 28% (1.81s) free swimming.</p>
<p><strong>On-block phase</strong>: The time from the start signal to when the swimmer’s toe leaves the block.</p>
<p><strong>Flight phase</strong>: The time from when the swimmer’s toe leaves the block to when the swimmer enters the water.</p>
<p><strong>Underwater phase</strong>: The time from when the swimmer enters the water to when the swimmer’s head breaks the surface of the water. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">James Magnussen in an underwater phase.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Patrick B Kraemer</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The underwater phase is the longest of a swimming start – it can account for 95% of variance in start time – and is the most decisive in determining efficient overall start performance, because it is when the swimmer is travelling at their fastest through the water. </p>
<h2>So what makes the perfect dive?</h2>
<p>It is important to remember the fastest starter is not always the one that enters the water first. The fastest starts are the ones that can maintain the highest velocity for the longest <em>after</em> they enter the water. </p>
<p>Prior to hitting the water, a swimmer must learn to maximise their take-off horizontal velocity while also reducing their reaction time, but if a swimmer does not optimise the underwater phase, increasing their take-off horizontal velocity won’t be advantageous to start performance.</p>
<p>There are a number of factors that affect the swimmer after they enter the water which determine how much velocity is maintained during the underwater phase and, in turn, the overall outcome of the start. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li>being as streamlined as possible</li>
<li>starting underwater undulatory swimming (dolphin kick) after about 6m</li>
<li>generating propulsive kick using only the feet and legs during the underwater water kick phase. </li>
</ul>
<figure>
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</figure>
<p>The swimmer can also vary the depth at which they swim, although this will affect the amount of drag acting on the swimmer and can affect the trajectory of the underwater phase. Specifically, the timing of a swimmer’s first kick, their maximum depth and the underwater trajectory used will have the greatest influence on overall start performance. </p>
<p>If a swimmer’s maximum depth is too deep they will spend longer travelling up toward the surface, and if the swimmer’s maximum depth is too shallow they will experience higher drag forces acting on them. </p>
<p>Similarly, beginning the first kick too early will increase the amount of drag acting on the swimmer.</p>
<h2>The ideal underwater trajectory</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54165/original/t4f4fpnf-1405646534.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54165/original/t4f4fpnf-1405646534.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54165/original/t4f4fpnf-1405646534.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54165/original/t4f4fpnf-1405646534.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54165/original/t4f4fpnf-1405646534.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54165/original/t4f4fpnf-1405646534.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54165/original/t4f4fpnf-1405646534.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54165/original/t4f4fpnf-1405646534.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Elaine Tor</span></span>
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<p>Through a number of research studies a number of theoretical guidelines for the ideal underwater trajectory have been detailed in the figure above, but the optimal underwater trajectory will also depend on each individual swimmers’ anthropometric characteristics and underwater kicking ability.</p>
<p>By using these recommendations swimmers are able to adopt the ideal underwater trajectory that will reduce the amount of resistance acting in the opposite direction to slow the swimmer down. </p>
<p>As a result they will be able to maintain a higher velocity for longer and set themselves up for better start performances. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29392/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elaine Tor receives funding from Swimming Australia and the Australian Institute of Sport. She is affiliated with the Australian Institute of Sport.</span></em></p>The swimming events of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games are among the first on the schedule. Australia and the UK tend to do quite well in the swimming events – as does Canada – so it’s an excellent opportunity…Elaine Tor, PhD candidate in Swimming Biomechanics at Victoria University and, Australian Institute of SportLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/293902014-07-22T19:59:01Z2014-07-22T19:59:01ZSick of exercise? Here’s how training can lower immunity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54397/original/j58cp2h4-1405922986.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">On your mark, get set ... ah-choo!</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/placbo/2826724783">placbo/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Exercise is good for you – we hear it all the time. <a href="http://www.runnersworld.com/health/sitting-is-the-new-smoking-even-for-runners">Sitting is the new smoking</a>. Exercise reduces the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20159820">risk of cancer</a>, improves your <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24948672">memory</a> and makes you <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24982639">happier</a>.</p>
<p>But does exercise have a sinister side that we’re not aware of? There is a common idea held by athletes that intense training for an endurance event, such as running a marathon, will leave one more susceptible to illnesses. </p>
<p>Exercise, especially prolonged or intense exercise, <em>does</em> impact your <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-the-immune-system-19240">immune system</a>. The immune system protects us from disease, so upsetting the balance of these essential cells and molecules could potentially leave us susceptible to increased risk of disease.</p>
<p>Neutrophils are the most abundant immune cells in our blood and ingest invading microbes. Following exercise, these cells <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12690938">increase</a> in number in two waves: immediately after and several hours following exercise. But while the number of neutrophils increases, their ability to ingest, and therefore destroy, microbes actually <em>decreases</em>.</p>
<p>Numbers of natural killer cells, that help kill virally infected cells, have been shown to <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22990626">decrease</a> during intense training periods in elite swimmers.</p>
<h2>The first line of defence</h2>
<p>Secretory IgA (<a href="http://www.nature.com/mi/journal/v4/n6/full/mi201141a.html">sIgA</a>) is an important protein that plays a major role in protecting us from respiratory infections. </p>
<p>It is found in sites throughout the body such as the intestines, the lungs and importantly in saliva. sIgA binds to bacteria and viruses as they enter the body and stops them from entering our cells.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21385218">Studies</a> have shown that when the level of sIgA in saliva is high the risk of upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) is low, and people with <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23389234">sIgA deficiency</a> suffer from URTIs more than the general population.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16596116">study</a> of athletes who completed the Western States 100-mile (161km) Endurance Run found that overall salivary sIgA secretion dropped by almost half, and, interestingly, those that developed an URTI had the greatest decrease in sIgA levels in the saliva. </p>
<p>Other <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22516911">studies</a> of athletes also showed a decrease in sIgA levels following prolonged or high-intensity exercise, but <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20051733">not all studies</a> agree.</p>
<h2>Why do these changes occur?</h2>
<p>The cause of changes to the immune system following intense exercise is unclear, although numerous factors probably play a role including hormonal and psychological factors. </p>
<p>Some studies suggest that decreased salivary IgA may be due to an <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20631639">increase in salivary cortisol</a>. Those immune alterations may also be in part related to <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15560351">psychological stress</a> induced by training. </p>
<p>Supporting this, in one <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18821985">study</a>, stress from competing in an international championship was associated with reduction of salivary IgA in both athletes and staff members.</p>
<h2>Do these changes lead to illness?</h2>
<p>Do changes to neutrophils and sIgA, as well as other changes to immune cells and molecules, result in an increased risk of infections? </p>
<p>The science is unclear, especially given that changes seem to be transient, but the “<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20839496">open window</a>” theory suggests that these short-term changes may result in increased susceptibility to infection.</p>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr172/8241245560">Michael/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
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<p>The “open window” hypothesis suggests that for a short period of time following exercise the athlete is more susceptible to any microbes they are exposed to during this time. While this proves an interesting idea, there have been no studies to support it.</p>
<h2>Avoiding illness</h2>
<p>Some authors suggest that <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19223675">vitamin C supplementation</a> might contribute to decrease in post-exercise salivary cortisol. Other studies show that a <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16320174">high carbohydrate diet</a>, or a diet high in <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23927572">beta-glucans</a> (found in oats, barley and mushrooms) may have some benefits for salivary cortisol and/or IgA levels and hence for post-exercise URTI occurrence. </p>
<p>So far, amongst all the nutrients tested in research, there is no expert recommendation on diet, but a high carbohydrate diet appears to be the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23112908">best option</a>.</p>
<p>The best ways to avoid illness during the training period and immediately before and after competition is to stay away from infectious people (always good advice!), wash hands regularly particularly before eating and avoiding, as much as possible, touching your face. A well-balanced diet, potentially high in carbohydrates, is recommended.</p>
<p>Moderate exercise is associated with positive effects in many areas of life and may be anti-inflammatory. More intense exercise may lead to changes in the immune system, but these seem to be short-lived and may be of little importance in overall health. So don’t let these changes put you off entering your first, or next, race!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29390/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Exercise is good for you – we hear it all the time. Sitting is the new smoking. Exercise reduces the risk of cancer, improves your memory and makes you happier. But does exercise have a sinister side that…Kim Murphy, Immunology researcher, Monash UniversityFabien B. Vincent, Rheumatologist; PhD student, Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/293332014-07-21T20:26:57Z2014-07-21T20:26:57ZFewer medals, but Glasgow 2014 will still be a gold rush for Australia<p>Some <a href="http://www.commonwealthgames.org.au/uploads/news/1/24/ppAM0OzG6s80q.pdf">71 nations</a> will participate in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/glasgow-2014">2014 Commonwealth Games</a>, starting on Wednesday in Glasgow – so what are Australia’s chances?</p>
<p>Many countries – <a href="http://www.commonwealthgames.org.au/page/81/glasgow-2014-team">including Australia</a> – are sending their largest ever Commonwealth Games teams. There will be an estimated 6,500 athletes and officials in Glasgow, 600 of them Australian (including <a href="http://www.commonwealthgames.org.au/page/24/latest-news">417 athletes</a>). </p>
<p>Earlier this year, the <a href="http://www.ausport.gov.au/">Australian Sports Commission</a> published its Commonwealth Games <a href="http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/australias_winning_edge/sports_tally_2014/2014_benchmark_event_targets">medal targets</a>, and its estimate of a maximum of 152 medals for Australia is substantially below the tally for the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games of 178 medals (74 gold, 55 silver and 49 bronze).</p>
<p>This reflects a decrease in the amount of medal events as well as the better performance of other Commonwealth countries. </p>
<p>Australia has been the leading medal-winning nation at the past six Commonwealth Games, so let’s have a look at who we might see on the podium this time round.</p>
<h2>Swimming: July 24 – 29</h2>
<p>The swimming events start on Thursday, and Australia has <a href="http://www.swimming.org.au/article.php?group_id=28481">a 59-strong team</a> at these Games.</p>
<p><a href="http://results.glasgow2014.com/athlete/swimming/1030620/alicia_coutts.html">Alicia Coutts</a> won <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alicia_Coutts">five gold medals</a> in Delhi in 2010 is competing in four events in Glasgow: Women’s 50m Butterfly, Women’s 100m Butterfly, Women’s 200m Individual Medley and Women’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay.</p>
<p>With her in the team are three world champions: <a href="http://results.glasgow2014.com/athlete/swimming/1030619/cate_campbell.html">Cate Campbell</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Sprenger">Christian Sprenger</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Magnussen">James Magnussen</a>. Overall, the Sports Commission estimates that the swim team will win a total of 55 medals, one-third of Australia’s medals at the Games.</p>
<h2>Athletics: July 27 – August 2</h2>
<p><a href="http://results.glasgow2014.com/athlete/athletics/1029979/sally_pearson.html">Sally Pearson</a> is one of the 55 female athletes in the 102-strong Australian athletics’ team. </p>
<p>She and three teammates – <a href="http://results.glasgow2014.com/athlete/athletics/1029958/kim_mickle.html">Kim Mickle</a>, <a href="http://results.glasgow2014.com/athlete/athletics/1029997/dani_samuels.html">Dani Samuels</a> and <a href="http://results.glasgow2014.com/athlete/athletics/1029884/alana_boyd.html">Alana Boyd</a> – are expected to contribute to an estimated high of 20 medals in athletics at the Games. </p>
<h2>Hockey: July 24 – August 3</h2>
<p>The Australian hockey teams go into the Games with a strong record of gold medal success. The men’s team has won gold at all four Commonwealth Games in which hockey has been included. The women’s team has won the gold medal on three occasions. (The exception was in Manchester in 2002 when India defeated England.) </p>
<p>The men’s team, the <a href="http://www.hockey.org.au/National-Teams/Kookaburras-men">Kookaburras</a>, is the top ranked hockey team in the world, and the women’s team, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-15/hockeyroos-lose-to-the-netherlands-in-world-cup-final/5524486">the Hockeyroos</a>, won the silver medal at the World Cup in the Netherlands last month.</p>
<h2>Netball: July 24 – August 3</h2>
<p>Australia and New Zealand have two Commonwealth netball gold medals each, and have played each other in all four finals. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.theroar.com.au/2010/10/15/aust-nz-netball-sports-greatest-rivalry/">2010 Final</a> was an epic match and New Zealand won that game, 66-64, in double-overtime. </p>
<p>The margin between both teams in all four finals has been very small, and the Glasgow Games promise another close encounter in what is effectively the World Championships of the sport.</p>
<h2>Rugby Sevens: July 26 – 27</h2>
<p>Rugby Sevens first appeared in the Commonwealth Games in 1998. There has been substantial investment in this form of rugby union now it’s included in the Olympics from 2016. </p>
<p>Some 16 nations will compete for the Commonwealth title this year, but New Zealand has won the gold medal each time. Australia has been drawn in a qualifying group that includes England, Sri Lanka and Uganda.</p>
<h2>Cycling: July 24 – August 3</h2>
<p>There are 41 athletes competing for Australia in cycling. <a href="http://results.glasgow2014.com/athlete/cycling_track/1037971/anna_meares.html">Anna Meares</a> will be contesting the Sprint and 500-metre Time Trial. </p>
<p>The men’s road team named before the Games includes cyclists competing in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/tour-de-france">Tour de France</a>: Simon Clarke, Mark Renshaw and Luke Durbridge. The road time trials take place four days after the end of the Tour.</p>
<p>Australia has medal hopes in all of the remaining sports in the Games, but for many athletes it will be an opportunity to experience a multi-sport event for the first time. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29333/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Lyons does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some 71 nations will participate in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, starting on Wednesday in Glasgow – so what are Australia’s chances? Many countries – including Australia – are sending their largest ever…Keith Lyons, Adjunct Professor of Sport Studies, UC-RISE, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/285772014-07-21T05:10:19Z2014-07-21T05:10:19ZLet the games begin, but what’s the point of the Commonwealth?<p>On July 23 the Queen will open the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. In the process, she will no doubt also fire the starting pistol on the latest round of a favourite British pastime: worrying about the Commonwealth. </p>
<p>As the games provide the organisation with a rare period of public visibility, we can expect a familiar process of soul-searching. While few British political leaders are prepared to dismiss the Commonwealth out of hand, expressions of support are frequently accompanied by anxious speculation as to why the Commonwealth is failing to achieve its supposedly vast, untapped potential. </p>
<p>This tendency to fret is exacerbated by the surprise often expressed by foreign observers at Britain’s apparent neglect of the Commonwealth. Here, after all, is the world’s largest Anglophone organisation, composed of 53 states, the overwhelming majority of which have strong historical ties to the UK and share with it legal and parliamentary traditions. Its head is Queen Elizabeth II, and Britain’s overseas ministry continues to call itself the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. London is home to the headquarters not only of the inter-governmental Commonwealth but also of many of the dozens of civil society bodies accredited to it. So why doesn’t the UK make greater use of this diplomatic resource? </p>
<p>The source of many of Britain’s difficulties is that, however much its supporters might want to deny or forget that history, the Commonwealth has its roots in the British Empire. The Commonwealth Games is a potent reminder of that. The event began in 1930 as the British Empire Games, became the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954, the British Commonwealth Games in 1970, and the Commonwealth Games only as late as 1978. </p>
<p>This long history has consistently inhibited Britain’s capacity to exercise influence via the Commonwealth. It has made the UK cautious about appearing to want to lead, fearing accusations it was seeking to exercise “neo-colonial” control. This has left the organisation heavily dependent on the ability of the Commonwealth Secretary-General of the day to inspire and refresh the organisation, tasks that some incumbents (particularly Sir Shridath “Sonny” Ramphal) have fulfilled noticeably more effectively than others.</p>
<p>And while Britain might value the Commonwealth as a vehicle for promoting democracy, human rights and the rule of law, whenever the governments of its former dependencies face criticism from the organisation over their shortcomings in these areas, they tend to respond with reminders of the sometimes autocratic and brutal nature of British colonial rule. When, ahead of the 2013 Commonwealth heads of government meeting, British prime minister, David Cameron, called for an investigation of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka during the country’s bloody civil war, he was accused by one Sri Lankan minister of acting like a “<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/10448653/David-Cameron-is-behaving-like-a-colonialist-says-Sri-Lankan-minister-Keheliya-Rambukwella.html">colonialist</a>”. Resentments about the legacies of colonialism remain sharply felt, raising questions about whether an organisation that emerged from the shell of empire is really a useful “soft power” vehicle for the promotion of British influence. </p>
<p>The same problem applies to the economic sphere. For the past 20 years or so, the organisation’s supporters in London have been busily promoting the idea that Commonwealth networks might help boost British exports. Yet on their recent <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28189305">trade-related tour of India</a>, William Hague and George Osborne noticeably kept references to the Commonwealth to a minimum, no doubt aware that its name opens few doors among the country’s elites and that residual resentment of Britain’s imperial record is never far below the surface. The idea of a “Commonwealth effect” in the area of trade may be just the latest mirage to attach itself to the organisation. </p>
<p>This is not to say the Commonwealth isn’t valued by many of its members, particularly the smaller and weaker ones for which it provides an important international forum in which to put forward their views. In this respect, supporting the Commonwealth has, since the 1960s, been a largely altruistic enterprise on the part of the UK. </p>
<p>Its very lack of substance – which makes it such an unreliable tool for the pursuit of policy objectives – is also probably the secret of its survival. It poses no real threat to the autonomy of its member states. Nor does its meagre budget impose significant costs upon them. The fact that there are few compelling reasons why states might want to leave the organisation may explain why it has already survived many premature obituaries. </p>
<p>So maybe the UK we should find other, more serious things to worry about. When the games take place again in Australia in 2018, the Commonwealth and its many affiliated organisations will almost certainly still be around, getting by as best they can. If necessary we can start worrying about them again then.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28577/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Murphy receives funding from the AHRC.</span></em></p>On July 23 the Queen will open the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. In the process, she will no doubt also fire the starting pistol on the latest round of a favourite British pastime: worrying about…Philip Murphy, Director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and Professor of British and Commonwealth History, School of Advanced Study, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.